Romania and Bulgaria are planning to use the migrant crisis, trading their approval of quotas for access to the Schengen borderless area, the Daily Express has claimed.

Citing an agreement between the two respective PMs, Boyko Borisov and Victor Ponta ahead of a meeting of EU interior and justice ministers, a report reads that both believe their countries should be granted access to Schengen as part of the response to the migrant crisis.

"Schengen is as essential to Europe as the Economic and Monetary Union is," the daily quotes Bulgaria's Deputy PM Meglena Kuneva as saying.

Even though the Bulgarian official reportedly pointed to the dropped resistance of member states to accepting Bulgaria and Romania into Schengen.

The text, however, reminds that countries such as the Netherlands are staunch opponents of the move, whereas other member states are concerned about the corruption problems and the issues both Sofia and Bucharest have in the the justice system.

The Breitbart Network, on the other hand, reports Kuneva as saying that, unlike the Visegrad Four countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) Bulgaria does not oppose migrant quotas.

Christian Ghinea, a Romanian political scientist, is quoted as telling EUObserver that there are some "downsides" to the accession into Schengen, with both countries potentially becoming "attractive for refugees as a transit country" if the border control is lifted: "It would open up a new route from Greece to mainland Europe."

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