EU leaders and candidates for EU membership may decide at a meeting next week to increase funding to strengthen border controls against terrorists, enlargement commissioner Mr Guenther Verheugen has said.
|
"Border security is already a very high priority, but if recommendations at the Brussels conference require additional investment we can use the pre-accession procedures," he told journalists during a visit to Latvia.
Leaders from the EU and the candidate countries, as well as Moldova, Russia and Ukraine, are to meet in Brussels on October 20th to discuss the fight against terrorism in the wake of attacks last month in the United States.
"Money will be available if needed" to strengthen border controls, he added, without specifying whether it would come from existing funds to help the 12 candidate countries to prepare for membership or if new money would be appropriated.
Enlarging the EU is an essential component of combating terrorism, said Mr Verheugen.
Recommendations may also come out of the conference which affect the enlargement process in the fields of justice, home affairs and internal security, he added.
AFP