Category: Investors Support

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.

In a recent interview for a popular News Agency in Bulgaria, the Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva stated that Bulgaria being out of the Schengen area is against the interests of Europe and Bulgaria, especially in times when there are threats by terrorist organizations. Bulgaria is seeking to join the Schengen are including sea and air borders by October. This partial Schengen membership will increase the security of those countries that were not convinced of the benefits of Bulgaria to join the Schengen area.

The Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva made it clear that Bulgaria will engage in talks that concern this two-stage accession to the passport and visa free travel zone of Schengen. The accession on the sea and air borders will be then followed by accession on the land borders. Unless that happens, Bulgaria will not be able to fully complete its duties which relate to the security of the European Union. The membership of Bulgaria in Schengen will turn the country into a very reliable and strong external border of the European Union. All authorities in Bulgaria, as well as the residents of the country feel that Bulgaria is absolutely ready to join the Schengen Area.

On a press conference themed “Multidisciplinary approach to counteracting trafficking in human beings through a transfer of knowledge and good practices of Schengen Area member states and Norwegian experience, in particular”, the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva stated that the presence of Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen area should not be underestimated. If that goes on Bulgaria and Romania will be accepted as countries of less importance in terms of security and thus they are left outside the Schengen space.

The Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva expressed her hope that the country will continue to work in the field of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM). The conference marked the start of a new project for counteracting trafficking of human beings of the European Institute foundation, which is financed by a Norwegian financial mechanism. The project focuses on the raising the capacity of Bulgarian state institutions in their fight against organized crime and trafficking in humans through educating employees or increasing the knowledge they already possess.

Along with the situation concerning the migrant crisis, Bulgaria has strengthened its demand for a membership in the passport free travel zone of Schengen. The aim of Bulgaria to become part of the Schengen area has been blocked by several member states led by the Netherlands on the basis of lack of progress in the fight against the organized crime and the corruption. Now with the refuge crisis, the position of the Deputy PM in charge of European affairs Meglena Kuneva is that this crisis will be facilitated to a great extent by the joining of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area.

If the Romania and Bulgaria enter the Schengen zone, the information exchange between the member states will be easier and that will improve the chance of the countries to deal with the risks that are provoked by the refugee flow and the migration. The authorities in charge in Bulgaria think that now is the time for the Schengen zone to take the proper decisions, which will demonstrate unity between all European states and one unified position.

While that has been happening, Germany temporarily reinstated the border control at its border with Austria due to the influx of refugees. Two weeks ago Austria opened its doors to refugees, which provoked strong reactions of approval all over the world. Yet, the Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Economy Sigmar Gabriel stated that the lack of European action was forcing Germany to limit the number of potential refugees.

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena Kuneva stated that Bulgaria had been meeting the Schengen accession requirement for seven years now and it was time to become an equal member. Meglena Kuneva also gave comments on the forthcoming Bulgarian EU Presidency in 2018. According to her the first stage of the preparatory works was already finalized.

Several Ministers of Home Affairs and Justice gathered a week ago for an emergency meeting, during which they were to agree upon the revised proposal of the European Commission concerning the resettlement of 160 thousand refugees currently being in Greece, Italy and Hungary. In addition to the temporary solution, the European Council is also offering a permanent mandatory relocation mechanism based on the number of filed asylum applications and the number of illegal entries into a country in question, both for a period of six months.

Bulgaria, which is still not a member of the Schengen Zone but is a member of the European Union, is against the permanent mechanism. According to the Bulgarian authorities, the crisis development reveals that a simple relocation will not be enough as it will lead to secondary relocations and will increase the tension among the refugees. Besides, the member states cannot stand against the wishes of the refugees that have certain destination. Bulgaria is for a financially secured and well working integration policy, accepted by all member states of the European Union. Bulgaria is open to accept more refugees, but demands the preferences of the refugees to be taken into consideration.

Didier Reynders, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium, arrived to Bulgaria on an official 2-day visit in early September upon an invitation from Daniel Mitov, the Bulgarian Minster of Foreign Affairs. During the official talks, the two ministers discussed the two-way cooperation between Bulgaria and Belgium, as well as some major initiatives of the European Union.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium stated that Belgium will back Bulgaria in the country’s efforts to access Schengen. Yet, Didier Reynders stated that Bulgaria has certain issues to solve first that concern the Parliament, the anti-corruption legislation and some other reforms. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Bulgaria should have progress in the fight against corruption, and its efforts to protect its borders and to guarantee security of the residents.

Currently, Belgium takes a second place in investments in Bulgaria. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria Daniel Mitov. This is so, as the total volume of Belgium investments surpasses EUR 1 billion. Most of the investments are made in the light and in the heavy industry, etc. There is also a growth of tourists coming from Belgium with more than 30 %.

Several days ago the European Commission stated that Romania and Bulgaria meet the criteria to join the travel free zone of Schengen and that the two countries need political decision in order to get into the passport free zone. It is not up to the executive body of the European Commission to take that decision. The decision about the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen zone should be taken by the Council of the European Union.

The countries in the Schengen zone, including the two states that want to become members – Romania and Bulgaria, should react wise to the current crisis with the migrants and should give a unified answer. There should be a mandatory distribution of the refugees among all member states in the European Union. This will allow the Union to keep its Schengen area as it is – free of checks on the border. Until now the Schengen zone has been accepted as one of the success projects of the European Union.

Yet, the situation with the migrants is getting worse. Last Wednesday Denmark has temporarily suspended its rail connection with Germany due to the influx of migrants. The Danish police also clods a motorway set between the two countries after a large group of migrants started walking north of Sweden. All countries in the Schengen zone, including the want to be members Bulgaria and Romania should be careful with the migrant’s situation.