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Schengen is a dream about Europe living with no borders and no passport controls. During the Justice and Home Affairs Council in 9th October 2015, the Minister of Interior and the Deputy Prime Minister for Coalition Policy and Public Administration Rumyana Bachvarova stated that Bulgaria becoming a member of the visa free Schengen Area is a matter of security for the entire European Union.

During the sessions of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, the Luxembourgish Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Jean Asselborn stated that he wants to thank Bulgaria for all the efforts made in the protection of the external border of the European Union, even if not being a member state of the Schengen zone. The Minister of Interior of Bulgaria stated that today Bulgaria’s joining the Schengen Area is a matter of security of the entire EU. She further stated that the external border management of Bulgaria was directly related to the most recent challenges to the EU connected with migration processes. She stated that this requires coordinated, joint, and collective response on the part of all EU member states and that Bulgarian cannot adequately contribute to joint efforts in this direction as it is still not part of the Schengen Area.

If Bulgaria is a member state of the Schengen Area, the county will be in the position to use the full set of instruments of Schengen legislation which will lead to more comprehensive prevention – checks on the Schengen Area visas, proper usage of the Schengen Information System, etc. Since joining the EU Bulgaria has managed to ensure a serious protection of the EU borders, making the needed efforts despite the limited access to such systems and the limited resources of the country.

Just before the EU summit in October, the Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria Meglena Kuneva raised the question about Bulgaria and its membership in the Schengen area. She stated that the fact that Bulgaria has not joined Schengen several years ago along with its entering the European Union and today that is not only a problem for the country, but also a problem of the European Union. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, it is of high importance for Bulgaria to receive a date, no matter when the accession will happen, as it is the horizon that matters.

Bulgaria not being part of the Schengen security zone of the European Union puts the country in the position of no man’s land. This position makes it impossible for the country to take care of its security and for the European security. Bulgaria does not know whether to contribute to the Schengen improvement as it does not know when it will join, and yet the country cannot belong to a different alliance, as it has already committed to this one.

In early October the President of the European Council Donald Tusk stated that Bulgaria is may be the best example of how the borders should be protected. He further stated that Bulgaria is ready to become part of the Schengen zone. Bulgaria is bordering Greece and Turkey, as well as Macedonia, and these countries are under great migratory pressure. Yet, Bulgaria still manages to protect its borders well.

The President of the European Council further stated that the borders of Bulgaria are also borders of the European Union. That is why, in his words, the country is ready to become part of the travel free Schengen zone. In fact, many politicians and people from abroad feel that Bulgaria entering the passport and visa free Schengen area should have happened long time ago.

The country still needs to make sure that all judicial reforms are mad and the fight against the organized crime and the corruption is still strong. Along with Romania, Bulgaria has hoped to enter the Schengen area in March 2011, yet this was postponed by several members of the alliance due to concerns associated with the security situation and corruption levels. The two Balkan states are still waiting.

At first Romania and now Bulgaria are slowly abandoning their hope to receive an invitation to join the passport-free travel zone of Schengen area. The admission of the two countries is on hold for many years now, though both states have proved their technical and border readiness to become part of the Schengen zone. The European Council sessions have put on hold all discussions concerning the admission of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen area and the expansion of the Schengen area in general.

Romania and Bulgaria have hoped to join the borderless zone since 2010. Through the years several nations have opposed the joining of Bulgaria and Romania, mainly Holland, Germany and Finland. Their reasons for that were concerned with the serious corruption issues that the two countries were believed to have. Yet, both Romania and Bulgaria are meeting the technical criteria for entering Schengen and for controlling their borders, including the borders with the countries that are not part of the European Union.

According to the Romanian political analyst Cristian Inteanu, the immigrants’ crises have caused serious issues and will influence the perpective of EU states over the future extension of the Schengen space. As the experts said, Romania and Bulgaria will be allowed to the Schengen area, if that will strengthen the eastern border of the European Union.

In a recent interview for a leading media, the Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva stated that the Bulgarian services work at European level and are comparable to the level of the European partners of the company. That is why according to the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister must become part of the Schengen area. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the importance of the Schengen border is serious, and thus Bulgaria must soon join the protected Schengen area as that will enable the country to exchange information so that to prevent dangerous people to enter the area under the cover of refugees.

Currently, the border control systems of the European Union are under serious pressure and unprecedented strain. The Schengen area, as we know, is a border-free zone that guarantees the free movement for more than 400 million citizens in the EU, yet this also allows other people who have entered the area to travel freely from Southern to Northern Europe. For that reason, the Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria stated that the European Union should take into account the wish of the country to protect Schengen, even if not a member yet.

Further she stated that she has no hesitation that Schengen enlargement with Bulgaria and Romania will make the Schengen policy and the Schengen as an area more secure and stable.

On a meeting with Timo Soini, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for Coordination of European Policies and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva stated that Bulgaria is an island of stability in Southeast Europe and in order to remain such should be applied the Schengen Area instrument. That happened on a two-day working visit of Meglena Kuneva to the capital Helsinki. The two Deputy Prime Ministers focused on the refugee situation and the possibility of Bulgaria to join the Schengen Area.

Bulgaria is technically ready for becoming a member state of the travel free Schengen area and all European institutions know that well. The Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister stated that she is expecting a positive decision in October after the European Council sitting and the Justice and Home Affairs Council sitting. Bulgaria is already successfully guarding the EU’s external border using the 10-fingerprint biometric device in line with the latest Schengen Area standards. Jari Lindstrom and Meglena Kuneva further discussed the preparation of Bulgaria’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2018. Finland will take over the presidency about a year later so the two talked about the consistency in European policies as well.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini attended the Annual Conference of Ambassadors to the Republic of Bulgaria in early September, hosted by the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Daniel Mitov. During the even she stated that the international relations have been very intense in the past few years and that brought new challenges to all countries to face.

Federica Mogherini expressed her belief in the close links between all EU member states. She declared that she is aware of the challenges that stand before Bulgaria due to the country’s geographic location on the crossroad. Yet she stated that these are challenges that concern all European countries and that when united the European Union has the potential to be a strong world power. Federica Mogherini further stated that the European Union will never be complete in its integrity if the Western Balkan countries are not part of it.

Minister Mitov was asked whether the 2018 Bulgarian presidency of the EU will coincide with the possible membership of Bulgaria in the passport free Schengen area. According to him however, there are many comments on the matter and that the goal of Bulgaria is to join the Schengen area as quickly as possible.

In a recent interview for a popular News Agency in Bulgaria, the Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva stated that Bulgaria being out of the Schengen area is against the interests of Europe and Bulgaria, especially in times when there are threats by terrorist organizations. Bulgaria is seeking to join the Schengen are including sea and air borders by October. This partial Schengen membership will increase the security of those countries that were not convinced of the benefits of Bulgaria to join the Schengen area.

The Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva made it clear that Bulgaria will engage in talks that concern this two-stage accession to the passport and visa free travel zone of Schengen. The accession on the sea and air borders will be then followed by accession on the land borders. Unless that happens, Bulgaria will not be able to fully complete its duties which relate to the security of the European Union. The membership of Bulgaria in Schengen will turn the country into a very reliable and strong external border of the European Union. All authorities in Bulgaria, as well as the residents of the country feel that Bulgaria is absolutely ready to join the Schengen Area.

On a press conference themed “Multidisciplinary approach to counteracting trafficking in human beings through a transfer of knowledge and good practices of Schengen Area member states and Norwegian experience, in particular”, the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva stated that the presence of Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen area should not be underestimated. If that goes on Bulgaria and Romania will be accepted as countries of less importance in terms of security and thus they are left outside the Schengen space.

The Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva expressed her hope that the country will continue to work in the field of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM). The conference marked the start of a new project for counteracting trafficking of human beings of the European Institute foundation, which is financed by a Norwegian financial mechanism. The project focuses on the raising the capacity of Bulgarian state institutions in their fight against organized crime and trafficking in humans through educating employees or increasing the knowledge they already possess.

Along with the situation concerning the migrant crisis, Bulgaria has strengthened its demand for a membership in the passport free travel zone of Schengen. The aim of Bulgaria to become part of the Schengen area has been blocked by several member states led by the Netherlands on the basis of lack of progress in the fight against the organized crime and the corruption. Now with the refuge crisis, the position of the Deputy PM in charge of European affairs Meglena Kuneva is that this crisis will be facilitated to a great extent by the joining of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area.

If the Romania and Bulgaria enter the Schengen zone, the information exchange between the member states will be easier and that will improve the chance of the countries to deal with the risks that are provoked by the refugee flow and the migration. The authorities in charge in Bulgaria think that now is the time for the Schengen zone to take the proper decisions, which will demonstrate unity between all European states and one unified position.

While that has been happening, Germany temporarily reinstated the border control at its border with Austria due to the influx of refugees. Two weeks ago Austria opened its doors to refugees, which provoked strong reactions of approval all over the world. Yet, the Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Economy Sigmar Gabriel stated that the lack of European action was forcing Germany to limit the number of potential refugees.

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva stated that Bulgaria had been meeting the Schengen accession requirement for seven years now and it was time to become an equal member. Meglena Kuneva also gave comments on the forthcoming Bulgarian EU Presidency in 2018. According to her the first stage of the preparatory works was already finalized.