At the end of January, Finland joined France and Germany, the Netherlands and Austria in opposing Bulgaria and Romania's accession to the Schengen Agreement as soon as expected, following a decision to this effect of Finland's committee for European affairs. On February 8, Finland's Migration and European Affairs Minister Astrid Thors visited Bulgaria to meet the country's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Mladenov - and gave an exclusive interview to Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency)

Finland has the experience of constituting the Schengen Agreement's outside border. Based on that experience, what piece of advice would you give to the Bulgaria, which is heading to this direction?

Our border authorities have been in contact with Bulgaria, we have advised them on technical issues. But borders are different - we have a border with Russia, where, contrary to what was said 15 years ago, there is no pressure of illegal immigrants. However, it is always important not to forget how important it is to have a good border system in place in order to prevent such pressure.

In my view, the decision taken by the court in Strasbourg on the Greek asylum reception system puts pressure on Bulgaria when it comes to its Schengen accession, because otherwise it could turn into a sort of a trigger factor that could set out of function one of the key pieces of EU legislation - the Dublin regulation.

Is there any possibility that Bulgaria and Romania may enter Schengen separately?

I think it is very much up to Romania and Bulgaria to discuss this issue, but that would entail extra costs for both countries, which hardly would be necessary for a short term. So, in my opinion, such an option is more or less excluded.

Is it not more up to Bulgaria, having in mind Romania is considered closer to its Schengen accession?

It is not for me to judge. In the case of Bulgaria, some technical reports are still not ready.

But I also want to point out that it took 6 years for Finland to join Schengen after it was accepted in the EU, so some months of postponement can not be a matter of life and death.

Is it plausible for Bulgaria and Romania to enter the Agreement partially - with their air borders?

We know that Slovenia joined Schengen with its land and air borders at different times, but I think such a differentiation in this case will not be neccessary, since it will not be a big difference in time between the partial and full accession.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!