Taking a question from BTA, Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov Friday said that by the end of 2023, it is absolutely possible for Austria to change its position against Bulgaria’s entry in Schengen. According to him, the Interior Ministry has done its job and now it is up to the Bulgarian government and the EU to do everything possible and make Austria start observing the EU’s rules and contract relations.
Since January, the Bulgarian border authorities have prevented some 165,000 attempts at illegal crossing of the Bulgarian-Turkish border, Stoyanov noted, adding that he had acquainted the Austrian authorities with that fact during his visit to Vienna earlier this week. He described Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Thursday statement as a direct reply that the Netherlands is ready to lift its veto on Bulgaria’s entry in Schengen. “They [the Netherlands] will refer to the European Commission’s decisions, but we all know that the Commission firmly supports us entering Schengen by this year’s end,” Stoyanov commented.
The Netherlands and Austria were the only EU Member States that opposed the admission of Bulgaria and Romania into Schengen in December 2023. Earlier this week, Austria reiterated its refusal to support a Schengen enlargement for the time being. On Thursday, the Dutch Prime Minister said that his country’s position depends on what the European Commission has to say about whether Bulgaria is ready to join Schengen.
/RY/
news.modal.text
