Netherlands to Block Bulgaria, Romania Schengen Entry

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | September 16, 2011, Friday // 11:58
Bulgaria: Netherlands to Block Bulgaria, Romania Schengen Entry Dutch minister of Immigration Gerd Leers. EPA/BGNES

The Netherlands will "work against" Bulgaria and Romania joining the Scdhengen Agreement, the country's Immigration Minister Gerd Leers promised late on Thursday evening.

Neither of the two Balkan countries is doing enough to combat corruption, Leers told the Dutch Parliament, pointing out this is a fact confirmed by a European Commission report this summer

The European Commission is looking at the issue next week and the Netherlands will use its veto if it appears Bulgaria and Romania are to be admitted, Leers said, as cited by the ANP News Agency.

ANP has stated that Finland, too, supports the Dutch position.

Bulgaria expects to get a date for accession to the Schengen Area at the upcoming External Affairs EU Council sitting on September 22.

The EU's latest members Bulgaria and Romania, who joined 2007, were expected to enter Schengen in the spring of 2011, but their accession was blocked by a number of older member states, such as EU juggernauts France and Germany.

It is a common perception that both Bulgaria and Romania have fulfilled the technical requirements for Schengen accession, but their entry has been opposed on the grounds of what other members claim to be persisting problems with corruption and organized crime.

"Bulgaria and Romania have met the technical criteria for Schengen membership. Unfortunately, the issue has been politicized," His Excellency Leszek Hensel, Ambassador of Poland to Bulgaria, has told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) in an exclusive interview. He added that the decision about Bulgaria and Romania's accession to the Schengen Area would be shaped precisely during the Polish EU Presidency in September 2011.

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Tags: organized crime, corruption, Schengen Agreeement, European Commission, Gerd Leers, Schengen, Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Poland

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