Bulgaria has defeated its organized crime and is now ready to enter the Schengen Agreement, the country's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov has claimed.

Speaking at the 15th Police Congress in Berlin, Tsvetanov stated that the Bulgarian government has "crushed the backbone of organized crime", demanding that Brussels fulfill its promise and welcome his country in Schengen.

"The current situation does not satisfy us. Bulgaria is a safe country now," Tsvetanov said, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.

The Interior Minister's words came a week after the European Commission's interim Cooperation and Verification Mechanism Report dealt a serious blow to the country's efforts to join the Schengen Agreement soon, as it was deemed quite critical of Bulgaria's progress in fighting corruption and organized crime.

Marian Titulescu, head of the Schengen Department at the Ministry of Administration and Interior, stated that his country's Schengen accession was a certainty. According to Titulescu, Romania has put a lot of efforts into increasing its internal security, relying on foreign expert help in the process.

The Netherlands remains the only member state decisively opposing the two EU newcomers' Schengen accession and is expected to maintain its stance if the report turns out negative.

Bulgaria and Romania were expected to join the Schengen free movement area in the spring of 2011, and by all accounts have fulfilled all technical criteria for entry.