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Bulgaria, along with its neighboring country Romania, is among the recent additions to the European Union. The two countries do qualify for joining the Schengen Zone, yet for this to become a fact an unanimous decision of the member states of the European Union is required. The two countries’ request to obtain access to the Schengen zone but have been facing vetoes for years based on the internal instability and the various changes going on.

The Schengen area is that part of Europe where citizens from 22 European countries can travel without the need of visa and passport, as well as no border control. The countries that are currently outsiders include Bulgaria and Romania, Cyprus and Croatia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The total population of the Schengen Area is more than 4000 million people. According to the president of France Schengen Area has to change and be improved.

After a joint briefing between the presidents of Bulgaria and Poland, it became clear that the Polish present Andrzej Duda is supporting the accession of Bulgaria to the passport free travel zone. The relations between the two countries could be traced back in time and today are an excellent example of partnership and friendship. Bulgaria and Poland are sharing similar position regarding the agenda in front of Europe.

According to the president of Bulgaria, Poland is making an excellent progress and the country is already being a great example of successful transformation on economic and political level. Poland has established itself as a leader of the other countries in Eastern and Central Europe that have joined the European Union like Bulgaria. President Plevneliev further stated that Bulgaria, along with Poland, is backing up the European Union connectivity between the member states aiming an establishment of energy and transport infrastructure.

In the end of January the Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev gave an interview for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. In the interview, the Bulgarian president stated that the European continent has already faced enough xenophobia and lack of tolerance that caused many wars and a lot of destruction. He said that today, in 21st century we need better and new ideas and that is why in his interview he called on all his colleagues in Europe not to leave behind the vision of Europe with no internal borders.

The Bulgarian President stated that the Schengen zone has made all Europeans’ dream of free traveling in Europe with no barriers. He pointed out that when times are difficult people should follow their dreams and not be guided by their fears. He also stated that the European Union was established in the name of peace preservation. Now that pace can be guaranteed only when the European nations cooperate and integrate with one another.

Rosen Plevneliev stated that once Bulgaria became a member of the European Union, it stepped on the right track and made a huge progress. Today the country plays an important role and is handling the refugee crises properly with no contradiction between the protection of EU external borders and the human rights respect.

Following a meeting with the Bulgarian Prime Minister, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated that if Europe wants to be correct with Bulgaria, it has to offer the country a Schengen membership. He further stated that it is not right that the results of Bulgaria concerning the refugee crises are not acknowledged. After all, Bulgaria is a non-Schengen country that has shown the best results.

The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that all countries that are along the routes of the migrants are under stress. He also said that Bulgarian authorities are handling that stress in the best possible manner and that is why the country should be offered a Schengen membership will full rights. He also stated however that the country should carefully consider whether or not she wants to join the Schengen agreement zone, which in his words is dying.

During the ditional reception for heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Bulgaria, at the end of January the Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev stated that Bulgaria has been a factor if stability in the region during the past year. The event has organized at the National Museum of History, where the President Plevneliev delivered his speech. According to him the year 2015 was difficult, the countries were unstable and the events could not be predicted.

He stated that despite all the challenges, Bulgaria has been acting as a factor of stability in the entire region, playing a responsible role as a pro-European force on the Balkans and further, as a responsible EU and NATO country. The year was also active concerning the Bulgarian foreign policy. And even if the people respect the refugees, they do protect the borders of the country and of the Schengen zone as well. That is why according to the president of the country, Bulgaria has been a source .not of problems but of solutions.

The ambitions of Bulgaria are associated with launching a new wave of European integration projects including euro zone membership and Schengen zone full-rights membership. The Bulgarian president further stated that the European Union is a platform for countries to develop and that Europeans need a good debate on achieving peace and pointed out that Bulgaria is an important factor for that on the Balkans.

He stated that the country’s international prestige is recognized by the fact that the country is taking over the chairmanship of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) and of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and that Bulgaria will be hosting the Arraiolos meeting in 2016.

In the beginning of the year the Bavarian Minister of the Interior for Building and Transport Joachim Herrmann stated during a press conference that in the frames of the Security Priority Area of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, there is no intention of turning Bulgaria and Macedonia into “waiting room for refugees”.

The Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for Coalition Policy and Public Administration and Minister of Interior, Rumyana Bachvarova, took part in this event dedicated to counteracting international terrorism. She remarked that Bulgaria protected its border in line and in accordance with all Schengen standards. She also stated that the country has the technical readiness to join the Schengen Area ever since 2012.

She further said that Bulgarians understands the situation in Europe and that meeting our obligations is more important than insisting on additional rights our citizens. The question with the Schengen membership remains open for the country.

At the end of the EU-Turkey summit in Brussels, the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov stated that the politicians in Brussels are acknowledging Bulgaria as setting the standards for the protection of the Schengen border. He further stated that the negotiations were very difficult and time-consuming, but at the end the EU member states and Turkey reached a compromise that is considered the best option for the moment.

Bulgaria has required financial assistance, as the country is making serious efforts in demonstrating how the Schengen border should be protected. The politicians have stated that Bulgaria sets the standards for the protection of the Schengen border, as the Bulgarian Prime Minister remarked. At the same time the authorities in Bulgaria have warned that the country would block the EU-Turkey agreement unless its interests are taken into account.

The Prime Minister of Bulgaria has sent a letter to the European Council President stating that Sofia would block the agreement unless the protection of the Bulgarian borders, as well as those of Greece, was guaranteed. The negotiations with Turkey should cover the land and marine borders of Bulgaria with Turkey. Bulgaria is currently not a member of the Schengen area.

During the meeting of the EU interior ministers in Amsterdam in late January, were discussed the plans for Greece to be sealed off the travel zone of Schengen. That temporary exclusion measure was offered by the Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner as a possible solution to the major migrant crisis.

In an interview for the German newspaper Die Welt, she said that if the Athens government does not do more to secure the external borders of the European Union, the temporary exclusion of Greece should be openly discussed. She further stated that the Schengen member state is not meeting the obligations. It seems that today, the protection of stability, security and order in Europe is not in the hands of Greece but in the hands of countries like Bulgaria which are not part of the Schengen Agreement.

At the end of January, the EU ministers met in Amsterdam to discuss steps that will allow the reintroduction of the national border controls for a period of two years. This let many people question the future of the Schengen Agreement that has been allowing people to travel passport-free across 26 states.

The serious refugee crisis has challenged Europe to make a point as the Schengen Agreement is cracking under the strain of the migrants who are arriving from Africa and the Middle East. That is why temporary border checks can be extended under the Schengen Agreement for a period of two years. In order for that extension to happen, however, the leaders of the European Union should agree that the serious and constant deficiencies in the Schengen external borders control is put into danger.

Currently six Schengen members including Austria and Germany, Sweden and Denmark, France and the non-EU member Norway, were forced to resort to reinstating temporary border checks, that will operate in the passport-free area. It is expected these measures to be valid until May.