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On several occasions already the Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva expressed her believe that Bulgaria will be the next big accession in the Schengen zone. She said that in front of the representatives of the parliament and the government, as well as in front of ambassadors and representatives of different teams, who at one point have made efforts and worked for the accession of Bulgaria in the European Union. The country celebrated ten years anniversary of its full membership in the European Union in the spring.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the further activity towards better integration in the European Union is among the main priorities of Bulgaria. This includes the entry into the Euro zone, as well as the participation of the country in the European Energy Union formation, as well as in the formation of European Prosecutor’s Office. The Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva further stated that the Bulgarian administration plays an important role in the negotiation process and rely on the preparation of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council.

Tsestka Tsacheva, the Bulgarian National Assembly Chairperson, recently made a proposal as part of the closing declaration of the Conference of Speakers of the European Union Parliaments, held in the capital of Italy Rome. According to that proposal, the European Union in its role of defender of the human dignity and the fundamental rights should take serious measures for keeping the external land borders of the EU on the most affected routes.

The Bulgarian National Assembly Chairperson stated that the cooperation between the countries of transit passing should be better and solutions have to be reached concerning the migration processes and the sharing of burden between the countries that are affected by the migration flow. She further confirmed that Bulgaria, being an external border of the EU, is among the most affected member states of the union. In that situation Bulgaria managed to present itself as a responsible partner that behaves as a member of the Schengen Zone, which greatly contributes to the European security. That is why Tsestka Tsacheva stated that there is a need for strengthening the idea about Bulgaria entering the Schengen zone. The Schengen area enlargement will strengthen the borders of the country and will be a signal for the European Union’ unity against the terrorism.

In an interview for Dark Radio a few days ago, the Bulgarian Deputy PM and Minister of Interior Rumyana Bachvarova stated that Bulgaria is ready for Schengen and sooner or later that entry will become a reality. The Deputy PM further stated that the attitude expressed towards the membership of Bulgaria in the Schengen Area is changing and there is understanding now that Bulgaria is ready to be part of that travel free zone.

Around that time, the Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva had a meeting in Stockholm with the Morgan Johansson, Justice and Migration Minister of Sweden and Margot Wallström, the Foreign Minister of Sweden. During the meeting were discussed the efforts of Bulgaria to join the borderless area of Schengen. The Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria confirmed that Bulgaria relies on the support that Sweden can offer.

After the talks Meglena Kuneva stated that Sweden has committed to support Bulgaria for its Schengen bid in front of the other Nordic countries during the meeting of the European Council in June. Another aim at that meeting was the attraction of investments from Sweden into different projects in northwestern Bulgaria.

A few weeks ago Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, the President of Croatia thanked Bulgaria for the support the country showed for the membership of Croatia in the European Union and NATO. That came as a result from the meeting between the presidents of Bulgaria and Croatia. The two countries keep as priority the accession to the Schengen area of Bulgaria and Croatia. The two countries are now to join efforts in achieving that goal.

Once a political issue, today the accession of Bulgaria into the passport free zone of Schengen is a matter only of meeting the requested technical criteria. In fact, the two presidents agreed that Bulgaria and Croatia have met that criteria a long time ago and are ready to be full members of this travel free zone of Europe. That has been recognized by both the European Commission and the European Parliament.

The two presidents also agreed that the increase in the migratory pressure at the external borders of the EU does require a European solidarity. They also talked about the sharing of burden between the EU member states. The entrance into the Schengen zone of Bulgaria and Croatia will unlock the economic potential of South Eastern Europe and will attract more investments.

In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) in April, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said that there is an intention for Romania and Bulgaria to be given a horizon for entering the Schengen area. According to the minister the negotiation about the entering of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen zone is a matter of diplomacy. There are several aspects concerning that. One of the most important is the fact that Bulgaria is the external border of the European Union and thus Bulgaria has to have full entrance to the Schengen Information System in order to be fully efficient. If not the country cannot conduct the fight in an efficient way.

Another fact that the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov stated is that all reports that concern Romania and Bulgaria show certain progress. This means that there have been only positive reports. Yet, no serious developments on the accession issue are in progress. Still, there are positive signals about the intention of the other members of the Schengen zone to start certain allowance of the two countries membership in Schengen, starting at lifting the air borders.