Bulgaria Loses Billions Annually Due to Delayed Schengen Membership, Warns Economy Minister
Bulgaria stands to lose approximately BGN 1 billion each year due to its continued exclusion from full membership in the Schengen area
Bulgaria seeks to secure partial Schengen membership by October, according to Meglena Kuneva, Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs.
Kuneva and Hristo Ivanov, Bulgaria’s Justice Minister, have arrived in the Netherlands for a one-day working visit.
Kuneva, as cited by the Focus news agency, claimed that the gradual abolition of border checks would assuage security concerns of the countries that were not fully convinced of the benefits of Bulgaria joining the Schengen Area.
She made clear that Bulgaria was about to engage in unprecedented talks on the two-stage accession to the visa-free Schengen zone, first with the air and sea borders, and second with the land borders.
Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Policies Coordination emphasized that Bulgaria could not carry out its duties related to the EU’s security effectively.
She said that she had made every effort to present Bulgaria’s stance, to ensure separate treatment of the country’s Schengen accession and the European Commission’s Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) in order to reduce the number of opponents to the measure, and to highlight the importance of Schengen membership for making Bulgaria a reliable external border of the EU.
She noted that the opposition towards Bulgaria’s accession to the visa-free Schengen zone had decreased substantially, adding that the step would be impossible without the active participation of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
Kuneva reiterated her belief that Bulgaria was 100% ready to join the Schengen Area with the air and sea borders.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
Bulgaria's Minister of Defense Todor Tagarev admitted the possibility that an explosive device might have been planted on board the crashed plane in which Yevgeny Prigozhin was traveling
The European Commission has announced that it is preparing criminal proceedings against Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, and Portugal for incorrect application of the rules on the exchange of data on criminal records and the establishment of the relevant
The European Commission has started an evaluation of the Plan for Reconstruction and Development of Bulgaria, said the spokesman of the European Commission Eric Mamer. The document was submitted to the Commission on 15 October.
58% of Bulgarians do not support the introduction of the euro as the official currency in the country. This shows a study prepared by Trend agency specifically for the financial forum NEXT DIFI 2021, organized by b2b Media for the fifth year. The data dur
Too late Bulgaria began to explain its own position towards North Macedonia, as it should have been clear to our European partners some time ago.
An SPD-led government in Germany has significant potential to sharpen international attention to the problems of corruption in Bulgaria.
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022