The Dutch parliament has supported a proposal by the country’s Prime Minister Mark Rutte to give the green light for Schengen accession for Bulgaria, last Friday, on December 22, asserting that the country has met all of the requirements and thresholds set.
The Parliament was presented with three choices, to support the decision, reject it, or refuse to consider it, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Presented with a resolution backing Austria’s stance by the Dutch New Social Contract party, which called for the gradual entry of Bulgaria into Schengen, the Dutch Members of the Parliament refused supporting the same. Instead, the MPs opted for PM Rutte’s proposal on Bulgaria’s full accession.
The move has been welcomed by the Bulgarian authorities, to which, Austria remains the sole obstacle towards joining Schengen.
Commenting on the Dutch parliament debate, the Deputy PM and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria, Mariya Gabriel, thanked the Dutch parliament and Prime Minister.
I would also like to thank [Dutch] Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his government who tabled the proposal last week. I am convinced that this action is in the interests not only of us and our northern neighbour, but also of the entire European Union.
Whereas according to the leader of Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), Boyko Borissov, if Bulgaria had not changed to constitution, which divided the Supreme Judicial Council into a judges’ and prosecutors’ college, and reduced the powers of the prosecutor-general, Netherlands would not have supported its Schengen accession.
If we had not changed the Constitution in this way, which was also a requirement, the Netherlands Parliament would not have taken such a decision.
The country’s Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov, on the other hand, has shown his optimism that Austria would make a decision about Bulgaria’s Schengen membership “as soon as possible”.
Bulgarian officials are also sure on Hungary’s support, following the approval of a bill revoking the country’s tax on Russian gas transit by the Parliament of Bulgaria. Previously, the Hungarian authorities threatened to veto Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen if the country did not removes the tax.
The transit tax on Russian gas had been introduced by Bulgaria in October this year, thus risking for the prices of Hungarian imports flowing through the Turkish Stream pipeline to increase.