Schengen: the oral report on Bulgaria was given yesterday

On July 18th the European Union member states presented the oral Cooperation and Verification Mechanism report on Bulgaria. The report contain facts and does not include political assessments. The spokesman of the European Commission Mr. Mark Gray stated that the report on Bulgaria will not criticize the current government of the country, which is opposed by strikes for a month already. Mr. Mark Gray confirmed that Bulgaria still has political will to work against corruption and to fight against the organized crime. The verbal presentation that was made by the European Commission this week is based only on trustworthy facts. In other words, the information that the European Commssion will recommend a postponement of the entry of Bulgaria into the passport-free Schengen area by at least one year because of the country’s unsatisfying progress and political crisis is false.

At the same time, in the middle of last month, the two member states that are waiting to enter the Schengen zone Bulgaria and Romania, declared that they will joint their efforts for the construction of a third bridge over Danube River. The third bridge will connect the cities of Silistra in Bulgaria and Calarasi in Romania, as it was agreed by the presidents of the two countries during the 18th Central European Summit Meeting in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Bulgaria and Romania will look for financing under the Structural Funds of the European Union, the Program for Cross Border Cooperation and Danube Strategy.