The Dutch EU Affairs Minister Frans Timmermans will visit Bulgaria on September 8 and 9. Photo by nrc.nl
The Netherlands has decided that next week it would not insist on EU sanctions against Bulgaria over its failure to crack down on corruption and organized crime.
The news was announced by the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, which cites Netherlands' EU Affairs Minister Frans Timmermans.
Timmermans declared himself in favor of sanctions against Bulgaria after the publications of the two devastatingly critical monitoring reports on the country by the European Commission on July 23.
The Netherlands, however, is going to insist on sanctions against Bulgaria in February 2009 unless the country achieves marked progress in the fight against corruption.
During a parliamentary debate the Socialist Party and the People's Party for Democracy and Freedoms demanded that Bulgaria be punished by being denied accession to the passport control-free zone of the EU member states.
They also insisted that the Dutch government should not allow Bulgarian workers onto the Netherlands' market.
Netherlands' Minister on EU Affairs Timmermans is going to visit Bulgaria on September 8 and 9 as part of a tour in Southeast Europe.