Belgium Pushes for Full Schengen Integration of Bulgaria and Romania
The Belgian Presidency of the EU is spearheading efforts to fully integrate Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen area
HOT: » Assessing the Legacy of Bulgaria's "Denkov" Cabinet: Achievements, Failures, and What Comes Next
Bulgaria should have called a regional summit to tackle the migrant crisis, instead of mobilizing the army to guard its borders, a recent analysis reads on the EUInside.
It says the former option would have helped see what is most needed by countries affected by the influx of migrants such as Serbia, Macedonia and Greece.
"Bulgaria missed a brilliant foreign policy opportunity to position itself as a constructive player, or a player at all, in the Western Balkans region that would have given substance to what had been repeated for years – the region being important to Sofia," the opinion piece begins.
It also describes Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov's statements on the issue as "very similar" to the ones of Hungary's government.
Sofia could have both scored points on the European level "by setting an example" and to come up with a proposal for a "community solution to the problem". It, however, did none and "managed to kill two birds with one stone."
Bulgaria was also absent from the 2015 Western Balkans Summit in Vienna, which what the continuation of what is called here "the Berlin Process" - a conference of Western Balkan heads of state called by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. With countries beyond the region (such as France and Italy) having joined the process this year, "Bulgaria's absence in Vienna did not go unnoticed".
Referring to a statement by Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz at the Vienna Summit, the author notes that EU members such as Bulgaria and Hungary "are protecting themselves from refugees by redirecting themselves towards other member states like Croatia and Romania."
"We want to have pro-active foreign policy in the Balkans, claim we are ready to aid these states in their way towards the EU, but we slam and bolt the door at the first sign of danger," the author warns just before ending.
Read the full text here.
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Brazen Bulgarian gangs "terrorise the elderly and rob them over their life savings with increasingly aggressive phone scams nettling millions of euros," according to an AFP story.
The prospect of US President Donald Trump's moving closer to Russia has scrambled the strategy of "balancing East and West" used for decades by countries like Bulgaria, the New York Times says.
Bulgarians have benefited a lot from their EU membership, with incomes rising and Brussels overseeing politicians, according to a New York Times piece.
German businesses prefer to trade with Bulgaria rather than invest into the country, an article on DW Bulgaria's website argues.
The truth about Bulgaria and Moldova's presidential elections is "more complicated" and should not be reduced to pro-Russian candidates winning, the Economist says.
President-elect Rumen Radev "struck a chord with voters by attacking the status quo and stressing issues like national security and migration," AFP agency writes after the presidential vote on Sunday.
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