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Schengen is a dream about Europe living with no borders and no passport controls. During the Justice and Home Affairs Council in 9th October 2015, the Minister of Interior and the Deputy Prime Minister for Coalition Policy and Public Administration Rumyana Bachvarova stated that Bulgaria becoming a member of the visa free Schengen Area is a matter of security for the entire European Union.

During the sessions of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, the Luxembourgish Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Jean Asselborn stated that he wants to thank Bulgaria for all the efforts made in the protection of the external border of the European Union, even if not being a member state of the Schengen zone. The Minister of Interior of Bulgaria stated that today Bulgaria’s joining the Schengen Area is a matter of security of the entire EU. She further stated that the external border management of Bulgaria was directly related to the most recent challenges to the EU connected with migration processes. She stated that this requires coordinated, joint, and collective response on the part of all EU member states and that Bulgarian cannot adequately contribute to joint efforts in this direction as it is still not part of the Schengen Area.

If Bulgaria is a member state of the Schengen Area, the county will be in the position to use the full set of instruments of Schengen legislation which will lead to more comprehensive prevention – checks on the Schengen Area visas, proper usage of the Schengen Information System, etc. Since joining the EU Bulgaria has managed to ensure a serious protection of the EU borders, making the needed efforts despite the limited access to such systems and the limited resources of the country.

Just before the EU summit in October, the Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria Meglena Kuneva raised the question about Bulgaria and its membership in the Schengen area. She stated that the fact that Bulgaria has not joined Schengen several years ago along with its entering the European Union and today that is not only a problem for the country, but also a problem of the European Union. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, it is of high importance for Bulgaria to receive a date, no matter when the accession will happen, as it is the horizon that matters.

Bulgaria not being part of the Schengen security zone of the European Union puts the country in the position of no man’s land. This position makes it impossible for the country to take care of its security and for the European security. Bulgaria does not know whether to contribute to the Schengen improvement as it does not know when it will join, and yet the country cannot belong to a different alliance, as it has already committed to this one.

In early October the President of the European Council Donald Tusk stated that Bulgaria is may be the best example of how the borders should be protected. He further stated that Bulgaria is ready to become part of the Schengen zone. Bulgaria is bordering Greece and Turkey, as well as Macedonia, and these countries are under great migratory pressure. Yet, Bulgaria still manages to protect its borders well.

The President of the European Council further stated that the borders of Bulgaria are also borders of the European Union. That is why, in his words, the country is ready to become part of the travel free Schengen zone. In fact, many politicians and people from abroad feel that Bulgaria entering the passport and visa free Schengen area should have happened long time ago.

The country still needs to make sure that all judicial reforms are mad and the fight against the organized crime and the corruption is still strong. Along with Romania, Bulgaria has hoped to enter the Schengen area in March 2011, yet this was postponed by several members of the alliance due to concerns associated with the security situation and corruption levels. The two Balkan states are still waiting.

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.