Bulgaria Improving Its Readiness for Schengen

In the end of July the head of the Consular Relations Directorate at Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry Rakovski Lashev said on a press conference that the Bulgarian consulates have improved the readiness of Bulgaria to enter the passport free Schengen zone by meeting all requirements concerning the no visa area. In fact, the consulates in Bulgaria are not only maintaining but also improving the level of readiness of their employees and the equipment they have. Bulgaria has been named ready to join Schengen in 2011 by the European Parliament and the European Union Council.

At the same time, the Bulgarian President stated that Bulgaria wants to be a member of the passport-free travel area of Schengen by 2018 and that he hopes that the country will soon enter the first stage of accession at the Schengen zone – the opening of the air and the sea borders. Romania and Bulgaria are members of the European Union since 2007 and had hopes to join the Schengen area in March 2011. This however did not happen as some members of Schengen have expressed reluctance and concerns over the security and corruption in the two countries.