The Netherlands will not remove its veto when it comes to Bulgaria’s membership in the Schengen Zone, the Dutch Migration Minister, Eric Can der Burg, has said.
Recently, Spain’s Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, expressed his hopes that the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen would be finalised during the next Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHC) meeting scheduled for December.
But, the Netherlands’ Migration Minister does not share the same opinion. He said that the situation at the moment has not changed, and he doesn’t see it changing in the short term, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Van der Burg insisted on a mission to Sofia before the decision of his country was made in this regard.
“First, we want an independent mission to establish the facts. Then we expect a report from the European Commission, in which it is written: They not only adopted the necessary laws related to the rule of law, but they also implement them.” Eric Van der Burg
Spain, which at present holds the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, has emphasised that accession of Bulgaria and Romania is among the main priorities of this country, with Grande-Malraska saying that Madrid is going to do its best it can so an agreement on this regard could be reached during the next JHC meeting that is set to be held on December 5 and 6.
I’m sure it’s going to be possible. We’re going to do (our) best for December to get an agreement. We’re trying to reach that agreement, and I cross my fingers, but we’re working very hard on it. Grande-Marlaska
Bulgaria’s membership to the passport-free zone was vetoed by Austria and the Netherlands on December 8, 2022, citing the failure of the EU’s migration policy in this country.
On October 19, the EU’s Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, considered excellent the results of an EU-funded project in Bulgaria as well as Romania to fast-track asylum as well as fund border technologies.
Johansson emphasised that people not entitled to asylum are being halted from entering these countries while others are sent home, considering that EU pilot projects have brought “very good results.”
Such initiatives have been initiated in March as part of efforts to convince Austria and the Netherlands to permit the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the visa-free travel zone in December this year.
Authorities in Sofia have intensified their efforts to prove these two countries that they deserve to be part of the Schengen Area.
Earlier this month, Bulgarian authorities welcomed the President of the Austrian National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, who visited Bulgaria’s border with Türkey.
Considering Sofia an important partner of Austria, Sabotka expressed his appreciation for efforts made by Bulgarian authorities to protect the external borders of the EU.
Bulgarian Minister of Internal Affairs Kalin Stoianov previously said that his country stopped 160,000 irregular border crossing attempts since the first month of this year, compared to 100,000 irregular border crossing attempts recorded during the same period last year.