Category: Business Support

In February the Deputy PM of Bulgaria spoke at a press conference of the Bulgaria of the Citizens Movement leadership’s meeting. There she stated that the presence of Bulgaria in the Schengen area is not only of great importance, but is also a matter of security. According to her, in case the position of Bulgaria is changed and it is accessed in the travel free borderless area of Schengen, in that case that will be a matter of security to the country and to the European territory in general.

Ms. Meglena Kuneva further stated that she understands why Bulgaria is being kept outside of the Schengen zone and that the country has issues according to the CVM reports, which concern the field of justice and the home affairs. The Deputy PM of Bulgaria said that she understands the wish for the rest of the countries in the Schengen zone to give us a push to do our job faster, yet they need to use another tool and not Schengen, as that is not appropriate now.

In the end of January the Bulgarian Interior Minister met with the German Internal Affairs Minister Thomas de Maizière. The meeting was part of the informal Justice and Home Affairs Council held which was organized in Riga, Latvia. The talks were organized in a constructive and open atmosphere, during which the cooperation between the two countries in the field of the home affairs was highly evaluated. The two countries evaluated their cooperation highly and expressed their readiness in the strengthening of that cooperation.

Germany stated that it will back up Bulgaria in its preparation for the EU Presidency planned in 2018. The Bulgarian minister informed the German Internal Affairs Minister about the current political situation in Bulgaria and which actions are to be taken in terms of the reform in the security sector and the judicial system. The Bulgarian government was encouraged by the Minister Maizière to continue with the reforms that are going on in order to achieve concrete measures that will bring visible results. The two ministers also discussed the Schengen bid of Bulgaria and the migration pressure. The German minister was also invited by his counterpart to visit Bulgaria.

The Bugarian Deputy PM of European Policies and Institutional Affairs has declared that Bulgaria is taking measures into being proactive and join the efforts of the European Union in its fight against terrorism. Bulgaria has already proposed the European Union to build a center against the arms traffic through the Western Balkans. According to Kuneva, there is a good location for that in Bulgaria and the state needs only administrative capacity to complete the task. The Bugarian Deputy PM declared that in front of the journalists in Brussels a month ago after meeting with Gilles de Kerchove, the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator.

Ms. Kuneva accounced that in May the European Commission will announce its new strategy that concerns the internal security. The Bugarian Deputy PM further stated that Bulgaria should actively participate in the preparation of that security and make its contribution in its capacity as an external border.

The Bugarian Deputy PM stressed that EC should not associate the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM) report with the desire of Bulgaria to join the Schengen Area. According to Ms. Kuneva, the question with the Bulgarian membership in the Schengen Area is a matter not only of Bulgaria’s security but also of the EU’s security.

The Deputy Chairman of Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (known as CEDB), Mr. Tsvetan Tsvetanov recently stated that Bulgaria has fulfilled the criteria for the entry into the Schengen zone. According to him the country has excellent security systems now and is completely ready to join the travel free area. All the recommendations that have been given to the country have been fulfilled in 2010 and that is now the country is ready to enter the Schengen zone. The Deputy Chairman stated that Bulgaria is ready to become part of the overall security of the EU since it has direct access to the Schengen Information System since 2011, which further guarantees the security.

In other words, Bulgaria is in the position to handle all the systems that can support the security issue. The Deputy Chairman of Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria further added that after the terrible terrorist attacks in Paris at the beginning of 2015, the Schengen issue is even more sensitive to the European Union.

On a meeting held at Sofia Airport, the Bulgarian Deputy PM of European Policies and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva spoke about the Bulgarian acceptance into the Schengen area. According to her, the problem lies in the attempt of some countries to associate that step of Bulgaria to the judicial system reform in the country. During the meeting, Mrs. Kuneva confirmed the readiness of the country to work along the Schengen Area requirements.

According to Meglena Kuneva millions of Euros have been invested in the airport equipment for the functioning of new systems. The Bulgarian Deputy PM stated that these systems were not eternal and will become old, without the possibility of Bulgaria to be able to recover the benefits from the capital investments it has made. She further stated that the problem that Bulgaria has is with the fact that some countries try to connect the reform in the judicial system with the security environment.

Addressing the ambassadors of the EU member states Meglena Kuneva, Bulgarian Deputy PM of European Policies and Institutional Affairs, stated that Bulgaria is accepting its potential entry in the visa free Schengen Area as a matter of security. She further stated that Europe should not allow itself to move at two different speeds as far as security is concerned. The Bulgarian Deputy PM stated that in the latest Paris events in the context, Bulgaria feels that it is very important to show its readiness to be accepted as a member of the Schengen zone.

Meglena Kuneva along with Hristo Ivanov – the Minister of Justice and Deputy and Filip Gunev – the Minister of Interior attended a business lunch with the European countries ambassadors. The meeting was organized by the Embassy of Cyprus. Mrs. Kuneva further commented that Bulgaria is against the association of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM) with the Schengen Area. Further were discussed the refugees’ integration, the migration pressure and the Bulgarian-Turkish border protection issues. According to Mrs. Kuneva a common European policy should be established on the migration and integration questions, as they concern a great number of countries.

In a recent interview the Minister of Interior Veselin Vuchkov of Bulgaria said to the journalists that Bulgaria deserves to join the Schengen Area even if it is only in association with the air borders. According to him Bulgaria deserves to stay next to Romania to join the Schengen area when air borders are concerned. The Minister is positive that the two neighboring countries should move in synchrony, just as they did until now.

The Minister of Interior further added that Bulgaria, as well as Romania has been technically ready to enter the passport free travel zone for many years now and that the criteria that has been previously set have already been met. Mr. Veselin Vuchkov further confirmed that the country has even managed to do well even when the refugee pressure is concerned. He said that Bulgaria did it better than some of the countries that are part of the Schengen area. According to the minister, the issue with Bulgaria entering the visa free Schengen zone is political and confirmed that the county will keep on synchronizing its efforts with Romania in order to convince all the countries to support the new members.

In the first week of December Meglena Kuneva, the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for coordination of the European policies and institutional affairs, spoke at the Bulgarian Parliament, stating that Bulgaria is technically ready to join the Schengen zone. According to Kuneva the country has been constantly inspected in the period 2009 – 2011, and all the reports stated that Bulgaria is technically ready to enter the passport-free Schengen zone. Kuneva said that the Schengen accession of Bulgaria depends on the member states are ready to accept it.

The Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European affairs further stated that Bulgaria received serious support for Bulgaria’s entry into the travel free Schengen area from the President of the European Council. She further noted that Bulgaria has undergone a stress test with the migration pressure on its border with Turkey and the country did great. Kuneva is hopeful that Bulgaria will soon receive positive news for the gradual elimination of the borders with Schengen.

In the middle of December the Chair of the European People’s Party Manfred Weber stated that Bulgaria will not join the Schengen Area soon and that the process of joining is a matter of mid-term and long-term work. Mr. Manfred Weber was speaking in front of a group of representatibes from the Youths’ organisation of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, who were on a visit to Brussels.

According to the European People’s Party Manfred Weber, when CEDB Deputy Chairperson Tsvetan Tsvetanov was interior minister, the trust on the part of some European countries increased with the ability of Bulgaria to exert control at its borders. He further said that currently these countries are lacking trust after a year of unstable government situation. Manfred Weber stated that Bulgaria should invest in its security and should start behaving like a partner in the European Union, deserving respect but also taking responsibilities.

In early December the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker stated that Bulgaria is ready to join the visa free Schengen zone. He further stated that all Europeans should be aware of the high level of readiness that the country has and that Bulgaria might join the passport free zone sooner than expected now. The President of the European Commission made the speech in the first days of December, after he had meetings with the Prime Minister of the country Boiko Borissov in Brussels.

Certain reports were issued, all unconfirmed for now, that Bulgaria will finally enter the Schengen free travel zone in March 2015, when the land, sea and air borders of the country will become part of the Schengen zone in three separate stages. The Prime Minister of Bulgaria stated that he is hoping the entry of Bulgaria into Schengen will not be connected to the co-operation and verification mechanism, valid since 2007 for Bulgaria and Romania in connection with the standards in the justice and home affairs.

In the past few years some of the member states of the European Union were blocking the entry of Bulgaria in the Schengen zone, based on problems connected with the judiciary and law enforcement. However, in the recent years all governments in Bulgaria insist on the fact that the country is meeting the Schengen membership technical criteria. Bulgaria is already applying the Schengen Information System. This database is very important as it shares information about people that should not enter the Schengen zone.