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This summer the Ambassador of the Netherlands stated that his country is not satisfied with the progress that Bulgaria, having in mind the attempts that the country makes to enter the Schengen agreement. According to Mr. Karel van Kesteren, Bulgaria should make more efforts to fight crime and corruption in the country and to improve its judiciary system and should oppose the oligarchic model which is not compatible with the membership in the European Union. The Ambassador confirmed that Bulgaria is technically ready to enter the Schengen zone, however it is still not showing enough progress as far as the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism is concerned.

In the beginning of August it became clear that Norway is also against the Schengen entry of Bulgaria and Romania. Norway is against the enlargement of the Schengen zone, fearing a new wave of crime. The press in Norway states that local people are against the Roma people coming from the two countries and not against the regular citizens of Bulgaria and Romania. The entry of Bulgaria in the visa-free Schengen area is still in question. The Schengen bid of the two countries will be discussed this winter. If Romania and Bulgaria are accepted in the Schengen zone, most probably people from the two countries will be able to travel without passports throughout the countries from the Schengen agreement next spring.

According to the Dutch Ambassador Karel van Kesteren Bulgaria’s attempts to joint Schengen area will not be successful in the near future. He states that Bulgaria will enter the Schengen agreement at one point, but he is positive that this will not be soon. The Dutch Ambassador stated that the entry of Bulgaria into Schengen zone is a matter of trust and further said that the country will be ready for this new step once its politicians improve the situation in the country and unite, answering to the demonstrations in the country that are taking place for two months already. Thus, the border free Schengen zone remains a dream for the country of Bulgaria that is yet to happen, but not at that moment and not any time soon.

The Dutch Ambassador Karel van Kesteren also supported the statement made by the Ambassadors of France and Germany on the oligarchy model of the Bulgarian government – a policy that does not appeal to the European Union membership. At the end of December this year, under the Lithuanian presidency of the European Union, there will be new discussions whether Romania and Bulgaria shall enter the Schengen zone or not.

Travelling to a country that is part of the Schengen zone when your own country is not part of the agreement could be difficult, but getting a Schengen visa is not impossible. In case that you want to visit Europe and see several of the countries that are part of the Schengen area, you should apply for a Schengen visa that allows for visits to many countries in Europe. The Schengen area includes twenty-seven countries and when you apply for a visa you need to write down on the application form which countries you plan to visit. In other words, you need to do some careful planning, before the trip to Europe starts. In the same Schengen via application form you will need to set the duration of the stay in each country and where you intend to stay, adding a proof of the accommodation. In case that you are not staying in a hotel and do not have a booking form, but you are staying with friends, you will need a letter from them and a copy of their passport.

Among the other documents that should be added are airplane tickets, bank statements for the last three months and a full itinerary. The application form is submitted to the embassy of the country that is the main destination of the trip, being the one that you will visit for the longest period of time. The application form and the information in the website of the embassy are often updated, so you should make sure that you have the latest version. Bulgaria and Romania are still not members of the Schengen zone, however they are expected to become members in the near future.

On 1st July this year Lithuania took over the presidency over the European Union, which is done on a rotating basis. Authorities from the country stated that they do not feel optimistic on the enlargement of the Schengen zone with new member states such as Bulgaria and Romania. The accession of the two countries in the borderless Schengen area is already quite protracted and there is no clear sign until when shall that be a fact. The permanent representative of Lithuania to the European Union, Mr. Raimundas Karoblis stated that nothing could be promised for the joining of the two countries in the passport free zone. At the same time, the European Commission confirms that Bulgaria as well as Romania are ready to enter Schengen and have been ready ever since 2010. Even so, several other countries that are members of the Schengen agreement are still blocking the bid of the two countries due to various reasons such as poor control on the borders, no progress and corruption.

Mr. Raimundas Karoblis further said that the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen zone will be part of his country presidency priorities, but the two countries shall make efforts and show progress and results. According to the diplomat, agreement shall be looked upon in the beginning of December when the Justice and Home Affairs Council will take a decision whether to accept Romania and Bulgaria in Schengen or not.

A week or two ago, the Prime Minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault had a meeting and talks with the President of Romania Mr. Traian Basescu. During that meeting he stated that Romania and assumingly Bulgaria could be accessed in the Schengen zone in two phases. He said that the first borders to be lifted are expected to be the air border controls, followed by the land border controls. According to the Prime Minister of France, his country shows support on the entry of Bulgaria and Romania and stated its opinion on several occasions. He stated that the integrity and the overall security of the European Union borders should be strengthened and the external borders should be well protected, as all countries that are members of the Schengen zone should fight against crime and corruption.

Bulgaria and Romania were supposed to enter the Schengen area in March 2011, when their accession was put off by France and Germany, two of the leading European Union member states. In September the same year, the Netherlands and Finland also blocked the bid for entry of the two countries, asking them to improve their results in the fight against organized crime and corruption. The new decision on whether the Bulgaria and Romania to enter the Schengen area will be taken not sooner than this December.

The Prime Minister of Bulgaria Mr. Plamen Oresharski had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Romania Mr. Victor Ponta at the end of June. The meeting was arranged to discuss various matters of mutual interest for the two countries, however the main topic was the two countries’ bid to enter the passport free Schengen area. The two prime ministers agreed to organize a summit in the city of Varna in the autumn. The main decision that resulted from their meeting in July was that the two countries decided to work together and to face the difficulties they encounter. The two countries will coordinate their positions in an attempt to have a better standing in front of their partners from the European Union.

The accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen zone was blocked in March by a group of member states, on the basis of problems with the organized crime and the corruption which the two countries are believed to have. During the meeting the two prime ministers also discussed several projects that concern both of the countries, such as the energy project of Nabucco and the natural gas networks between the two countries.

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.

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.

In the spring of 2013, the German Association of Cities complained that they fear from a serious flow of immigrants that will impose a burden on the social protection systems. Gunther Oettinger, the Energy Commissioner stated that Romania, Italy and Bulgaria are “ungovernable” countries that may endanger the stability in the region and in the Schengen zone in general. This speculation showed that the new rules of the Schengen area agreement could be a step back as they will be applied according to the criteria of the member states and can be very biased. According to this agreement, Bulgaria and Romania are no longer candidates to enter the Schengen zone, as they have answered the technical criteria and have the legal right to join the area. The new rules require a new evaluation system, so the organized crime and the corruption could no longer be the easy excuse of the member states to block the entry into Schengen of Bulgaria and Romania.

However, the entry of Bulgaria into Schengen depends on the member countries, the European Parliament and the Commission. Hopefully, thanks to the new rules the member states could feel more at ease to accept the two new countries in the Schengen zone.

In the end of May, the Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement and accepted a new package of legislative measures. According to the new rules shall be established internal borders within the Schengen area, however not everyone sees that as a progress. The agreement reached showed a compromise, since there was a clash in the opinions of the two institutions. It all started in 1985 when seven countries from Europe decided to abolish their internal borders and signed an agreement. The area with no borders was then joined by other states and some states outside the European Union like Switzerland, Iceland Norway and Liechtenstein. Nowadays, Schengen area has thirty members, where twenty-seven of which are using the agreement. The new rules that Bulgaria will have to follow once it enters the Schengen zone, have been set since a great number of immigrants started making troubles for some of the national populations.

The new way of government of the Schengen area aroused after the confrontation between the Council that wants more freedom for the states that want to introduce border controls and the European Parliament that wants to have strict rules on the right of the European citizens to free movement. According to the new agreement, the member states will be able to use border controls if they want to for a period of two years, in case they fear a thread from massive immigration. This means that there will be formalities to enter the Schengen zone if you are not a citizen of the European Union. The travelers will need to register online.