Slovakia and Lithuania support Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen zone

In the middle of June during a meeting with the Romanian Prime Minister, the Prime Minister of Slovakia confirmed that his country strongly supports Bulgaria and Romania accession to the border-free Schengen zone. He also said that no new criteria are expected to be implied. According to the Prime Minister Roberto Fico, there should be no other criteria for the accession besides the requirements that have already been established and which the two countries follow.

A few weeks later Lithuania declared its support for Bulgaria and Romania for their efforts to enter the Schengen zone. Lithuania will be the next country that will host the European Union presidency and it will offer a discussion on accepting Bulgaria and Romania in the border free Schengen zone. This is expected to happen in December during a meeting of the European Ministers of Interior. According to Lithuania, they will do their best to reach a favorable decision on Bulgaria and Romania entering the Schengen area. The president of the country has presented his credential letters to the Bulgarian ambassador in Lithuania, stating that his country strongly supports the accession. Bulgaria and Romania were postponed to enter the passport free zone of Schengen in the beginning of the year when several member state countries stated that they do not show serious results in their fight against organized crime and against corruption.