EU Member States Political Infighting Hinders the Schengen Membership of Bulgaria

Emil Radev, the Bulgarian MEP with Citizens for European Development for Bulgaria (CEDB) / European People’s Party (EPP), recently stated for FOCUS News Agency that it is the political infighting in some EU member states that hinder the Bulgarian Schengen membership. He further stated that for a fourth year in a row, Bulgaria is meeting all conditions for membership in the common Schengen area and is still left behind.

According to the politician, the monitoring mechanism concerning the judiciary and home affairs are applied only to Romania and Bulgaria and serve just as a formal obstacle for the two countries to join the Schengen area. Emil Radev further stated that there are politicians who are interested in Bulgaria not joining the Schengen zone. On the other side, however, the EU commissioners and MEPs as well as Jean-Claude Juncker himself have repeatedly stated in all discussions of the mechanism that there is no connection between the mechanism and the Bulgarian’s entry into the Schengen area.