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Socialist MP Rumen Petkov believes that unbridled corruption, combined with the incompetent work of the Interior Ministry and the Customs Agency, prevent Bulgaria from joining Schengen. Photo by BGNES
Bulgarian Socialist MP Rumen Petkov has expressed skepticism over Bulgaria's accession to Schengen, citing unbridled corruption and the incompetent work of the Interior Ministry and the customs.
Petkov illustrated his point through a number of examples, the first of which involved a detainee who had escaped from a plane.
According to the MP's account, the incident revolved around two Bulgarians arrested in Cyprus on a European Arrest Warrant, one of which managed to run away.
"No one can explain how this happened- it is a sign of incompetence and of corruption", Pertkov remarked.
In his words, it is inadmissible to not deploy a police cordon in such cases and the man who bears political responsibility for this must go.
Petkov ruled out the option of nobody being able identify the person in charge.
The socialist MP referred to two other inadmissible cases- a Turkish ship which had managed to leave Bulgarian territorial waters without being intercepted by border police officers and a drunk border police officer who had died on the job, who was found to have enjoyed the company of his likewise drunk fellow guards, leaving the border unpatrolled for more than 6 hours.
"What does it mean to leave EU's external border unguarded? What does it mean to have a detainee to look after and to let him escape?" , the former Interior Minister demanded to know.
Dismissing the claim of Customs Agency head Vanyo Tanov that smuggling in Bulgaria amounts to "close to one billion", Rumen Petkov presented statistics showing that 30% of the tobacco products on the market were illegal.
"Our partners are blocking our Schengen bid because we are an economic threat to Europe because of cigarette smuggling", Petkov explained
In Petkov's words, as a result of this, Bulgaria will not be admitted to Schengen, which he termed as "the gravest political failure".
To remedy the situation, Bulgaria's Interior Ministry must be restructured, Petkov insisted.
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