Freedom of movement is the major right of EU citizens. However, with the coming of the European elections in May 2014, the debate about the poor migrants from Eastern Europe started again. The issue has become topical in Bulgaria too with the refugee wave from Syria. The topic was discussed days ago in Sofia at a Bulgarian-German forum entitled “Migration models in the EU – challenges before Bulgaria and Germany”. Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Deputy PM Daniela Bobeva, as well as Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Member of the European Parliament with the Free Democratic Party of Germany, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, took part in the discussion. Both agreed that migration actually helped EU Member States. The big problem with the integration of the Roma community should be solved with the efforts of all EU Members.

According to statistics, 90% of the Bulgarians who go to work in Germany are young people who study there and integrate quickly. Compact groups of Roma who do not speak the language and are looking only for exploiting the social systems of countries are below 5 percent. Experts say that one cannot speak of brain drain in Bulgaria in the way it was after the democratic changes in 1989 when 11.5 percent of Bulgarian scientists, engineers and experts left the country. Today mostly young people go to study in Germany, Ms. Bobeva says. She pointed out that a program for online internships aims at attracting those students back to Bulgaria in order to combat the lack of highly qualified experts. Migration is not harmful to Bulgaria, nor England or other EU Members, she said and added:

“The expected wave of immigrants to the UK did not happen and we knew that. Still such campaigns cause negative attitudes towards Bulgarians, who actually integrate quite well", Minister Bobeva contends. "I hope that communication and statistics will show the truth. We see that recipient countries are interested in attracting experts. Still each EU citizen has the right to move freely and work in the union. Balance is needed as every citizen has equal rights. Our German colleagues pointed out that the Roma issue was not a problem for a particular region or a country. It is a joint European problem that must be solved with joined efforts.”

Associate professor Krasen Stanchev who is the founder of the Institute for Market Economy in Bulgaria, who commented for Radio Bulgaria, also says migration is not harmful to Europe.

“I don’t think that emigration is a problem. The whole debate was artificially created. Migration is good for donor countries as well as for recipient countries. There are no economic data that show this is a problem. High poverty does not mean emigration. The highest level of emigration for Bulgaria to EU Member States coincided with a period of swift reduction of poverty after 2001. When we speak about brain drain we should know that this is a matter of free choice of people who look for better perspectives. These people just try to invest more in their education and skills. If we want more educated Bulgarians we should leave them choose what they want to study. These day many Bulgarians go to western countries but the process can be described as a movement of workforce. These experts will sooner or later return to Bulgaria. Many of these people send money to their families at home, so this is also good.”

What about the problem with Roma integration in the EU?

“It is better for governments not to adopt policies for treating a specific group of people, as this causes discrimination. Policies for treating the Roma minority are being replaced with policies related to poverty migration, which include them. The problem is related to keeping the rules of law valid for everyone.”

English version: Alexander Markov