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At a briefing after the Border-2016 drill, the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov stated that Bulgaria keeps its engagement towards Europe by properly protecting the external border of Schengen, even if not being officially part of the visa free travel zone in Europe. The Prime Minister of Bulgaria commented the situation in Drama.

Several weeks before that the EU Commissioner on Internal Affairs and Migration Dimitrus Avramopulous stated that the Schengen Zone and the free movement of people and goods should remain. The commissioner gave his opinion after a joint meeting between representatives from Germany, Sweden and Denmark in the headquarters of the European Committee. The meeting followed Sweden’s establishing of an obligatory check on the documents of all citizens coming from Denmark. On its side, Denmark will be checking the people coming from Germany.

According to the EU Commissioner on Internal Affairs and Migration Dimitrus Avramopulous, all participants at the meeting agreed that these border measures should be limited for the saving of the Schengen area spirit. Norway was the 10th country from the Schengen zone, which decided to bring the border control.

In an interview in front of the Bulgarian National Television in early January, the MEP with the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (CEDB)/European People’s Party (EPP) Maria Gabriel stated that it would be naïve for all of us to think that the Schengen zone could be preserved the way it has been functioning so far.

She further stated that several months ago, Schengen was perceived as a zone with freedom of movement. Yet, the travel free Schengen is not only about freedom of movement. It is and has always been about security and control over the external borders. And it is exactly that dimension that has to be strengthened. Here comes the proposal for each person that is owning a Schengen passport to be systematically checked upon leaving and then upon returning to the territory of Europe. These concrete and adequate measures will allow us all to shift the pseudo-debate on Schengen to a serious debate on how to improve Schengen and preserve its spirit.

Bulgaria and its neighboring country Greece are expecting help from the European Union, which will help them deal with the refugee crisis. On a press conference with the Bulgarian and the Greek Presidents, Mr. Plevneliev stated that the two countries have made serious efforts to accept and accommodate the refugees, despite the limited financial support from the EU. Both presidents agreed that the rest of the European Union member states should set common rules concerning the handling of the refugee crisis.

The Bulgarian President said that certain migrant hotspots should be arranged in every European Union state. At the same time the Greek President underscored the fact that Bulgaria is not part of the Schengen accession, even if complying with all the rules. He stated that Bulgaria should be part of the Schengen agreement, if the rest of the countries have such serious expectations in connection with the border preservation.

Emil Radev, the Bulgarian MEP with Citizens for European Development for Bulgaria (CEDB) / European People’s Party (EPP), recently stated for FOCUS News Agency that it is the political infighting in some EU member states that hinder the Bulgarian Schengen membership. He further stated that for a fourth year in a row, Bulgaria is meeting all conditions for membership in the common Schengen area and is still left behind.

According to the politician, the monitoring mechanism concerning the judiciary and home affairs are applied only to Romania and Bulgaria and serve just as a formal obstacle for the two countries to join the Schengen area. Emil Radev further stated that there are politicians who are interested in Bulgaria not joining the Schengen zone. On the other side, however, the EU commissioners and MEPs as well as Jean-Claude Juncker himself have repeatedly stated in all discussions of the mechanism that there is no connection between the mechanism and the Bulgarian’s entry into the Schengen area.

In a very recent interview, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated that Bulgaria should be admitted to the passport free Schengen Area in order for the European Union to deal more effectively with the ongoing refugee crisis. On the public radio he stated that the EU should establish a new frontier on the northern border of Greece aiming to halt the migrant influx to the rest of Europe.

The Hungarian Prime Minister further stated that the existing agreement between Turkey and the EU will not be sufficient to hold the refugee wave. Viktor Orban further stated that Macedonia should also be provided with financial support and with whatever other assistance it needs in order to reinforce its defense. The Hungarian prime minister further said that Germany is now taking measures to slow down the arrivals of refugees, yet the focus should be on the stopping of these refugee flows. In 2015 Hungary built fences on its southern border and initially that attracted criticism on the side of the EU, yet later other members took similar measures and heightened their border controls.

In late 2015 the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov organized a working meeting with General Antonio Lopez-Isturiz, the European People’s Party (EPP) Secretary who is ahead of the EPP Congress in Madrid. The information was announced by the press office of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria. The main topic that was discussed during that friendly meeting was related to the issues that would be later examined during the Congress.

The two politicians further discussed the refugee pressure that the Balkans are going through over the past months and also the various challenges that are faced by Europe in this respect. The Bulgarian Prime Boyko Borisov further assured Antonio Lopez-Isturiz that Bulgaria is protecting the borders of the EU under all Schengen standards. At the same time the EPP Secretary General stated that Bulgaria is accepted as a source of stability in the entire region.

During her EU Presidency in 2018, Bulgaria will host the international forum on science and innovations. This was agreed between the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovations Carlos Moedas and the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva and was announced by the press office of the Bulgarian Government.

According to the two politicians, we all live in a dynamic world with faster developing economies and the EU needs innovations more than ever before so that it can preserve its competitive power. The European Commissioner and the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister further discussed the various opportunities given by the European funds for the development of the science and innovations in the member states, which are included in the current programme period.

The two politicians also discussed the different opportunities provided by the Bulgaria’s membership in the Schengen area and the overall policy on inclusion and strengthening of the newly integrated member states, as the European Commissioner decided to uphold the support of the European Commission to these demands of Bulgaria.

In the end of 2015, the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva stated that the security of Bulgaria is something that all should be interested in. She stated that the Schengen area is not an abstract idea for the Bulgarians. The Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister was talking at the Fourth EU – Southeast Europe Summit that was organized by “The Economist” in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

According to Meglena Kuneva, in her role as Deputy Prime Minister, the country has strong support on the part of business. In case the Schengen Area is kept closed for Bulgaria, that will mean that Bulgaria would have to rely on its own skills to protect itself. Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva further stated that the security of Bulgaria is also European security.

Until very recently, Schengen Zone was perceived as the main engine for the European Integration. With the crisis that started in 2009, many important changes in the European Union legislation happened. Since the refugee crisis outbreak, there was one integration ship’s mast that was visible and it was associated with the euro area. The crisis with the refugees placed the existence of the European Union to a very serious test. And now as the threat is not over yet, a new integration ship is to be seen – that of Schengen. The reason for that lies in the terrorist attacks in Paris, dating 13th November, when 130 innocent people have lost their lives and many others were injured.

Because of the refugee crisis, the Schengen zone had a very central stage in the disintegration forecasts. And the terrorist attacks in Paris changed that situation to a significant level. The feelings of solidarity with France made way for the integration deepening in the sphere of counter-terrorism and security within Schengen.

During the emergency meeting of the ministers of justice and home affairs on 20th November, it became clear that the answer to the terrorist attacks should come from Europe as a whole and not from the individual nations. According to the European program for security, that should be based on a mutual trust. That however, is bad for the countries that are outside the Schengen area, as these countries are either not ready or there is no trust in them. Bulgaria is not a member of the Schengen zone, even if it protects the outer borders of the European Union and is technically ready to become a member for many years now.

The ministers gave a task to the European Council to prepare a proposal for changing the code on the Schengen zone borders. This means that there will be a legal ground on which to be made a systematic control of EU citizens and collection of biometric information. The ministers also requested for widening the mandate of the European border agency Frontex and for establishing regional information exchange platforms with the Western Balkans states. This means that there is no trust in Romania and Bulgaria, as the two states remain outside the Schengen zone. And even if the Schengen information system is working in Bulgaria, the system is not fully opened to the country.

Yet, as a conclusion from the meeting, it became clear that Schengen is not falling apart but is integrating.

In a recent speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Jean-Claude Juncker – the Commission President of the European Union warned the public that the Schengen zone is in a “partly comatose” stage. Juncker further stated that if that eventual collapse of the Schengen Area becomes a fact, this might have negative effect and bad political consequences for the European Union and the common currency – the Euro.

Juncker stated that if Schengen zone fails, than the single currency of the union will make no sense. The travel free Schengen area, of which Bulgaria is still not a member, is facing the impact and the consequences from the terrorist attacks in Paris and the migrant crises that is lasting for such a long period. The borderless Schengen area has been under serious pressure as it was revealed that several of the attackers moved freely throughout Europe, claiming to be refugees from Syria. According to the Commission President, the reintroduction of the checkpoints at the national borders between the member states of the European Union will have immediate and direct effect on the common European Union currency.

After the terrorist attacks in Paris, several temporary border controls have been reinforced in several EU member states in an attempt for the migration flow to be diverted. The Commission President of the European Union further stated that we all have to keep the spirit that stays behind the Schengen zone.