Bulgaria Ready for Schengen

In early December the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker stated that Bulgaria is ready to join the visa free Schengen zone. He further stated that all Europeans should be aware of the high level of readiness that the country has and that Bulgaria might join the passport free zone sooner than expected now. The President of the European Commission made the speech in the first days of December, after he had meetings with the Prime Minister of the country Boiko Borissov in Brussels.

Certain reports were issued, all unconfirmed for now, that Bulgaria will finally enter the Schengen free travel zone in March 2015, when the land, sea and air borders of the country will become part of the Schengen zone in three separate stages. The Prime Minister of Bulgaria stated that he is hoping the entry of Bulgaria into Schengen will not be connected to the co-operation and verification mechanism, valid since 2007 for Bulgaria and Romania in connection with the standards in the justice and home affairs.

In the past few years some of the member states of the European Union were blocking the entry of Bulgaria in the Schengen zone, based on problems connected with the judiciary and law enforcement. However, in the recent years all governments in Bulgaria insist on the fact that the country is meeting the Schengen membership technical criteria. Bulgaria is already applying the Schengen Information System. This database is very important as it shares information about people that should not enter the Schengen zone.