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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.

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.