Bulgaria should be admitted to Schengen immediately, we have the right to Schengen. Austria's attempt to use the veto for domestic political purposes is more shameful.
This was stated in an interview for BGNES by Andrey Novakov, a member of the European Parliament from the ENP group.
We talk with him about the veto of Austria and the Netherlands on Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen area, as well as the retaliatory measures that our country must take in order to fulfil its national goal.
"One of the arguments that the Austrian chancellor presented for the non-admission of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen was that Schengen has not been reformed and that new members will be accepted when it is reformed," Andrey Novakov recalled in a comment on the recent meeting between Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and chancellor Carl Nehammer.
Novakov noted that Croatia was admitted to the economic space last year, so this argument is invalid.
"Was the Schengen area reformed then? If it was not reformed and Croatia was accepted, then this argument is reduced, along with all other arguments. This shows that the attitude towards Bulgaria and Romania is tendentious and does not in any way concern the Schengen reforms, nor the real readiness of the two countries to guard the external borders", said the MEP.
Andrey Novakov stressed that the readiness of our country for Schengen membership is a long-known truth.
"Bulgaria was not admitted to Schengen due to political and partly electoral reasons, mainly in Austria, and before that in the Netherlands. Part of the governing coalition relies on nationalist populist votes and the narrative that Bulgaria and Romania are the villains in the European Union, which They will flood the EU with migrants if they enter Schengen," Novakov added. "Actually, they (the managers - white. ed.) believe that this brings them some positives, which is more shameful for the EU, because I don't remember such an approach before."
The Bulgarian MEP noted that our country guards its borders much better than other European countries, which are external borders of the EU, and at the cost of human lives.
Novakov insisted that it should be a deliberate institutional mechanism to pressure the European Council, including the Netherlands and Austria, by blocking legislative initiatives until Sofia and Bucharest are admitted to Schengen.
"If this does not happen by the end of the year, we must remove the borders between us bilaterally, because every day our truck carriers lose 200 euros while waiting at the border," Andrey Novakov said.
"All instruments must be used. Bulgaria must approve the European budget, as well as any other legislation, requiring a full majority in the European Council. We must use this position together with Romania so that we exert pressure among all other mechanisms," he added. he.
The representative of the European People's Party admitted that this position probably sounds extreme, but stated that what we are keeping at the moment is absolutely unacceptable.
"Once again, Bulgaria will be rejected. After that, we do not know at all when this issue will be part of someone's presidency of the EU. So far, we have been waiting for 12 years. The time frame in which I expect our goal to happen is immediate. Bulgarian citizens deserve this happened to them, because we, as Bulgarians, are supposed to be a part of the European space for free movement, called Schengen," emphasized Novakov.
"We cannot consider the issue as a concession that Austria or the Netherlands will make to us. We must be accepted immediately, because Bulgaria has made its sacrifices, paid the price, to be part of the EU. Schengen and the Eurozone are part of the privileges. , which the members benefit from. We have the right to Schengen and we will no longer tolerate such treatment, added the Euro MP." /BGNES
