Yearly Archives: 2015

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.