SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — A leading conservative candidate in next week's European Parliament elections has promised Bulgarians tight measures against illegal migration.

Manfred Weber said in Sofia that "the state must win over the human traffickers in the fight against illegal migration."

The center-right European People's Party candidate, who is also running to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission president, visited Bulgaria on Sunday as part of his campaign and to back the country's ruling center-right GERB party in next weekend's elections.

Weber's words about illegal migration, which is of significant concern for voters in Bulgaria, received frenetic applause by the 14,000 GERB supporters.

The Balkan country has taken a tough stance against mass migration to Europe by sealing off its border to Turkey with a barbed-wire fence to prevent migrants from entering.