EU newcomer Bulgaria has made it clear it will aim to accede to the Schengen zone in March 2011 even though France and Germany decided to block the country from joining the Europe's passport-free travel zone.

"What I read in the newspapers today will in no way change our planned preparations for making the country fit for the Schengen zone in March 2011," Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov commented on Wednesday.

A day earlier the French and German interior ministers said it was "premature" to let them join Schengen in March 2011. In a letter to European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem they said Bulgaria and Romania needed to make "irreversible progress" in the fight against corruption and organised crime.

"The letter shows that Bulgaria's Schengen accession has been tied up with the European Commission's continued monitoring of its justice reform and corruption combat and its record so far. What these countries want to see is determination in corruption and organized crime combat," the minister added.

He pointed out that the interim report of the European Commission on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM; e.g. progress in fighting crime and corruption) will be crucial for Bulgaria's Schengen bid.

Bulgaria's center-right government has assigned top priority to the country' accession to the Schengen zone in March 2011, a target date, which has been set as early as in 2007, during the term of the previous Socialist-led government.

But its preparedness has yet to get the EU greenlight and is facing strong opposition from older member states, who say entry next year will be premature.

Experts from EU states who visited Romania and Bulgaria are due to present a report in January that will be used by governments to make a decision on Romanian and Bulgarian membership, but it must be agreed by the Schengen members in unanimity.

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