EU Experts Scrutinize Bulgaria's Schengen Fitness

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | December 6, 2010, Monday // 18:14
Bulgaria: EU Experts Scrutinize Bulgaria's Schengen Fitness Experts scrutinize Bulgaria's preparedness to join Schengen. File photo

A team of EU experts has arrived in Bulgaria Monday to check if Bulgaria's efforts to meet the criteria of the Schengen Agreement are going as planned.

This is the seventh consecutive visit of Schengen experts in Bulgaria, but is considered crucial because of the awaited decisions on behalf of the European Commission and the EU Council.

Currently, Bulgarian citizens are allowed visa-free entry into the Schengen system and there is eased access to Bulgaria for Schengen visa holders, but the country is not a full member of the system.

Bulgaria submitted its formal declaration of readiness in September 2007 and sent European authorities follow-up reports, penning in March 2011 as the target date for accession to the Schengen zone.

The estimates turned meaningless due to a delay in the award of a tender to produce biometric passports and lack of progress on the second generation of the EU's Schengen Information System, more commonly known as SISII.

On Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi declared that Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen Agreement will be one of the priorities for Hungary's EU Presidency.

However, Bulgaria and Romania's entry in Europe's border-free zone soon is under question, as France, The Netherlands, Germany and Austria expressing their reluctance about the two Balkan countries joining the Agreement 2011, caused by the issues with the Roma migration and the faults in both states' judicial systems.

Bulgaria submitted its formal declaration of readiness in September 2007 and sent European authorities follow-up reports, penning in March 2011 as the target date for accession to the Schengen Agreement.

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

Bulgaria in EU » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: Romania, experts, Bulgaria, Schengen Agreement, EU

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria