Bulgaria and Croatia refuse asylum camps

16.Jul.03,  first published by euobserver.com: read the original article here.

Croatia and Bulgaria have both turned down the controversial UK and Italian idea that they house asylum camps for immigrants trying to get into the EU.

The Presidents of both of these future EU member states, Stipe Mesic and Georgi Parvanov, refused the idea after bilateral talks on Monday, Der Standard reports.

Croatia's Mr Mesic said that he thought those who came up with the idea would be better occupied trying to find solutions to the regional crisis in the Balkans instead.

Mr Parvanov said that all EU member states and those waiting to become members should act together - adding that neither Bulgaria nor other states could be expected to take on "strange ghettos" to isolate refugees.

The predominantly British idea for camps in third countries to 'process' those seeking entrance to the EU was rejected by EU leaders at the Thessaloniki Summit in June.