“Schengen is the confidence that we can protect the European Union’s borders, but also the confidence that Bulgaria has started on a European path, will respect the rule of law and will punish people who break the law”, said the prime minister, quoted by Spanish agency Efe.
Nikolai Denkov was at the airport in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, this morning to welcome a group of passengers on a flight from Berlin.
At the ceremony, the current prime minister said he was a “moderate optimist” regarding the possibility of this accession to the Schengen area, now partial, also extending to land borders next year.
“I know that we are waiting for a more politically appropriate moment after the European elections [do início de junho]perhaps after the Austrian elections [setembro ou outubro] to make a decision” in this regard, Denkov stated.
This morning, Romania and Bulgaria were partially incorporated into the Schengen area, with free movement of people and goods only by air and sea, in a gradual entry that EU countries unanimously agreed on December 30th.
In the pact reached, Austria, which opposes the total entry of those two countries, undertakes to reach a closer agreement with Romania and Bulgaria to end road and rail controls at land borders, as happens with the remaining countries in the Schengen region.
The Prime Minister of Bulgaria explained this morning that it will depend, on the one hand, on the political situation in the country, which is on its way to the sixth legislative elections in three years, after failing the second attempt to form a new Government following the recent rupture of the agreement between the two largest parties for a rotation in power.
On the other hand, far-right parties with anti-European positions must not emerge stronger from the European elections or the Austrian elections, added Nikolai Denkov.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov marked partial accession to the Schengen area as a “historic date”.
“Let us not forget that just a few months ago, our country’s possible accession to the Schengen area was completely blocked. I am proud of the work of the Ministry of the Interior which, under my management, achieved the necessary results for us to become members of Schengen”, he stated.
The minister linked progress in accession to Bulgaria’s efforts to prevent the entry of irregular migrants from the Turkish border, one of the usual routes for illegal immigration to the European Union.
Read Also: Bulgaria on track for new early elections, the sixth in three years
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2531377/bulgaria-assinala-adesao-parcial-a-espaco-schengen-como-confianca-da-ue
