site.btaBulgaria Expects Full Accession to Schengen - Parliament Chair

Bulgaria expects to fully join the Schengen area, including by land and air, Bulgarian Parliament leader Rossen Zhelyazkov told reporters here on Monday. "We meet all criteria," he said as he was asked to comment reports of Austria's readiness to relax its veto on Schengen's enlargement into Bulgaria and Romania by allowing the two to join by air only. 

"I don't think one member state is in a position to dictate any conditions because it would mean that it speaks on behalf of all countries in the EU without being mandated. I don't think any country has been mandated by the EC or the EP and the other member states to put conditions which go beyond the established Schengen membership standards," said the Bulgarian Parliament leader.