Bulgarians Prefer EU and NATO Over Russia, New Poll Reveals
A recent survey in Bulgaria reveals a clear preference among citizens for the European Union and NATO over Russia, with nearly twice as many respondents supporting the Western alliances
Bulgaria has to be allowed to enter the European Union’s borderless Schengen area as early as this autumn to avert threats to security, Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva has said.
“Member states could not be left out of Schengen when there is threat of terrorism and migratory pressure,” Kuneva said on BNR radio station on Sunday.
“When Bulgaria has no access to the entire data base of the Schengen area, we are weakening both ourselves and Europe,” she added.
Kuneva, who is Deputy Prime Minister for European Policy Coordination and Institutional Affairs, also said that the decision for admitting Bulgaria into Schengen needs to be taken by the European Council in September to open the way for the country’s accession the following month.
Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, has met all technical criteria relating to accession to the Schengen area, according to Kuneva. She reiterated the need to decouple Bulgaria’s accession from the country’s progress in judicial reform which is being monitored under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) of the European Commission.
Concerns over the state of Bulgaria’s slow and graft-prone judiciary has prompted the European Commission to track the progress of judicial reform and the fight against corruption, using the CVM. Tackling corruption and judicial reform is among the reformist goals of the minority coalition government led by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
Membership of Schengen is needed right now – not after the judicial reform is completed and not after changes to the Judicial System Act, or the Penal Code, or the Civil Proceedings Code are adopted, Kuneva opined.
“Schengen will be subject to changes due to the threat of terrorism and Bulgaria cannot be left out of this process,” said Kuneva.
Bulgaria has joined the Western sanctions against Russia over Moscow’s involvement in the Ukraine crisis and has shown its support for the common EU policies in the areas of energy diversification and migration.
This support should be seen as a test whether Bulgaria is able to go in the same direction as the EU and in this context the country must not be left out of the common security zone, Kuneva said.
The Bulgarian government has effectively abandoned its plan to enter the eurozone on January 1, 2026
On December 11, the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria approved the draft state budget for 2025
Bulgaria has made little progress in implementing the recommendations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), despite its ambition to join the OECD and its stated intention to align with its corporate governance guidelines.
Adelheid Wolfl's commentary in the Austrian daily Der Standard discusses the implications of the upcoming US elections for Bulgari
With less than two weeks until a pivotal election, the American public is eager for clear policy solutions from both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris aimed at rebuilding the economy and enhancing national security
In an interview with Al Jazeera, David Owen says that if elected, US presidential candidate Donald Trump would likely work to stop the war, which he predicts will end with Russia taking some of Ukraine’s lands.
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