Category: Business Support

At the end of May it became clear that the Emiratis will be given access without visas to several countries, among which being Bulgaria. The decision was made by the European Union and thus Emiratis will now have access to the Schengen zone. This means that people from the UAE will have access to the European property market and potential investments. The currency advantage is on the side of Emirates and this makes the investment in European properties and businesses even more appealing.

This move of the European Union to allow residents of UAE to invest with no visa restrictions in countries from the Schengen Zone is very important. In fact the UAE is the first country that is granted free entry to the passport free area. Thanks to the new offer the Emiratis will have visa-free access to 26 countries in the Schengen zone and eight countries that are not yet members of the Schengen agreement, including Bulgaria and Romania, Cyprus and Croatia, Andorra and San Marino, Monaco and the Vatican. The free entry to the Schengen zone is for 90 days in any 180 day period. Naturally, Emirates has welcomed the agreement as this will save a lot of money and time to the travelers.

On several occasions already the Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva expressed her believe that Bulgaria will be the next big accession in the Schengen zone. She said that in front of the representatives of the parliament and the government, as well as in front of ambassadors and representatives of different teams, who at one point have made efforts and worked for the accession of Bulgaria in the European Union. The country celebrated ten years anniversary of its full membership in the European Union in the spring.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the further activity towards better integration in the European Union is among the main priorities of Bulgaria. This includes the entry into the Euro zone, as well as the participation of the country in the European Energy Union formation, as well as in the formation of European Prosecutor’s Office. The Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva further stated that the Bulgarian administration plays an important role in the negotiation process and rely on the preparation of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council.

Tsestka Tsacheva, the Bulgarian National Assembly Chairperson, recently made a proposal as part of the closing declaration of the Conference of Speakers of the European Union Parliaments, held in the capital of Italy Rome. According to that proposal, the European Union in its role of defender of the human dignity and the fundamental rights should take serious measures for keeping the external land borders of the EU on the most affected routes.

The Bulgarian National Assembly Chairperson stated that the cooperation between the countries of transit passing should be better and solutions have to be reached concerning the migration processes and the sharing of burden between the countries that are affected by the migration flow. She further confirmed that Bulgaria, being an external border of the EU, is among the most affected member states of the union. In that situation Bulgaria managed to present itself as a responsible partner that behaves as a member of the Schengen Zone, which greatly contributes to the European security. That is why Tsestka Tsacheva stated that there is a need for strengthening the idea about Bulgaria entering the Schengen zone. The Schengen area enlargement will strengthen the borders of the country and will be a signal for the European Union’ unity against the terrorism.

In an interview for Dark Radio a few days ago, the Bulgarian Deputy PM and Minister of Interior Rumyana Bachvarova stated that Bulgaria is ready for Schengen and sooner or later that entry will become a reality. The Deputy PM further stated that the attitude expressed towards the membership of Bulgaria in the Schengen Area is changing and there is understanding now that Bulgaria is ready to be part of that travel free zone.

Around that time, the Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva had a meeting in Stockholm with the Morgan Johansson, Justice and Migration Minister of Sweden and Margot Wallström, the Foreign Minister of Sweden. During the meeting were discussed the efforts of Bulgaria to join the borderless area of Schengen. The Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria confirmed that Bulgaria relies on the support that Sweden can offer.

After the talks Meglena Kuneva stated that Sweden has committed to support Bulgaria for its Schengen bid in front of the other Nordic countries during the meeting of the European Council in June. Another aim at that meeting was the attraction of investments from Sweden into different projects in northwestern Bulgaria.

A few weeks ago Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, the President of Croatia thanked Bulgaria for the support the country showed for the membership of Croatia in the European Union and NATO. That came as a result from the meeting between the presidents of Bulgaria and Croatia. The two countries keep as priority the accession to the Schengen area of Bulgaria and Croatia. The two countries are now to join efforts in achieving that goal.

Once a political issue, today the accession of Bulgaria into the passport free zone of Schengen is a matter only of meeting the requested technical criteria. In fact, the two presidents agreed that Bulgaria and Croatia have met that criteria a long time ago and are ready to be full members of this travel free zone of Europe. That has been recognized by both the European Commission and the European Parliament.

The two presidents also agreed that the increase in the migratory pressure at the external borders of the EU does require a European solidarity. They also talked about the sharing of burden between the EU member states. The entrance into the Schengen zone of Bulgaria and Croatia will unlock the economic potential of South Eastern Europe and will attract more investments.

In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) in April, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said that there is an intention for Romania and Bulgaria to be given a horizon for entering the Schengen area. According to the minister the negotiation about the entering of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen zone is a matter of diplomacy. There are several aspects concerning that. One of the most important is the fact that Bulgaria is the external border of the European Union and thus Bulgaria has to have full entrance to the Schengen Information System in order to be fully efficient. If not the country cannot conduct the fight in an efficient way.

Another fact that the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov stated is that all reports that concern Romania and Bulgaria show certain progress. This means that there have been only positive reports. Yet, no serious developments on the accession issue are in progress. Still, there are positive signals about the intention of the other members of the Schengen zone to start certain allowance of the two countries membership in Schengen, starting at lifting the air borders.

Eva Paunova, MEP from the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria Group said in an interview at Focus News Agency that Bulgaria has a stable government and working reforms. On a conference under the motto ‘My Dream for Bulgaria’ she further stated that Bulgaria has met all the requirements needed for its accession at the Schengen zone. She further stated that the country is in the position to change for better very fast if only all the politicians in Bulgaria work in the same direction and allow the reforms to happen.

In connection with the possible accession of Bulgaria into the Schengen area, MEP Eva Paunova stated that keeping in mind the current situation, Europe needs good security. She also stated that the entry of Bulgaria into the passport free Schengen zone should be a matter of national priority since Bulgaria is a worthy member state of the European Union.

Bulgaria today is seen as a prestigious country with well-educated young people, trained to use the modern technologies. Besides that Bulgaria is a country with very good education and healthcare systems.

In an interview for a well-known media, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Mitov was asked about how close the country is to Schengen. He stated that Bulgaria in fact already functions as a Schengen country and as we have we met the criteria and are doing well as an external border of the EU we deserve at least for the air borders to be opened.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that the German Foreign Minister is looking favorably on the attempt of Bulgaria to become part of the Schengen Information System. The German Minister further stated that the Schengen zone would require full and adequate information on the movement of people from their countries and borders in order to block people that do not have the required passports to enter the Schengen zone. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Mitov stated that his German colleague was committed to bring the issue before the Interior Minister of Germany.

The Prime Minister of Bulgaria is convinced that both the rightists and the leftists politicians in the country are doing their best for the accession of Bulgaria in the Schengen zone. According to the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, the country is very close to getting into the passport-free travel zone.

During his meeting with the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in March, the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov gave a press conference, where he confirmed that he has explained to his colleague all the efforts made and further undertook the engagement to provide help in the realization of the gas projects.

The Prime Minister Boyko Borisov stated that Bulgaria has highly qualified labour force. He also stated that thanks to some great efforts from all parties there is a good political stability in Bulgaria.

Upon visiting Sofia in the early spring, the German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated that Germany is open to talks on allowing Romania and Bulgaria to enter the passport-free travel zone of Schengen. The foreign minister further stated that the two countries have been members of the European Union since 2007 and have sought for a positive Schengen status ever since 2011. Until now that has gone with no success.

In one of his last visits to Romania, the president of Bulgaria Mr. Rosen Plevneliev also commented on the important control that Bulgaria offers as part of the external border of the European Union. The efforts of the country were stated to be very good, better than the efforts of many other European Union countries that are already members of the Schengen zone.

According to the President Rosen Plevneliev, Romania being with the new president Klaus Iohannis has made a serious progress in her fight against the corruption. He also said that Bulgaria has to catch up in that aspect. The founding nations of the European Union such as France and the Netherlands have urged Romania and Bulgaria to be stricter about tackling the corruption and securing their borders, before they join the Schengen zone.