NOS News•today, 13:36
Bulgaria has reacted with annoyance to the refusal of the Netherlands to allow the country to join the Schengen area. The Netherlands believes that Bulgaria must further improve the rule of law in order to tackle corruption and take the wind out of organized crime.
A comment from Prime Minister Rutte yesterday that migrants could illegally cross the Bulgarian border for 50 euros has gone down badly. “I’m not saying it will happen, but I want to have explicitly established that it will not happen,” Rutte said.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has https://twitter.com/PresidentOfBg/status/1598778091291037696 reacted to Rutte’s words: “Recently, three Bulgarian policemen protecting the external border were killed. Today Prime Minister Mark Rutte made the unacceptable suggestion that people could cross this border for 50 euros. Instead of European solidarity, Bulgaria is getting cynicism.”
Radev also spoke to Rutte, in which, according to the Bulgarian news agency Novanite, he said that for accession, EU member states should be guided by the established criteria for Schengen membership “and not by other considerations.”
“Leaving Bulgaria out of Schengen is not in the interest of the European Union and does not contribute to common efforts to meet the security challenges and severe economic crisis in Europe,” said Radev.
The Netherlands has said next week at vote for the accession of Romania and Croatia. The expansion of ‘Schengen’ is on the agenda for December 8.
Accession requires a unanimous agreement of the EU ministers. If the Netherlands votes against, it will not go ahead. That is why the pressure on the Netherlands will be increased, said State Secretary Van der Burg for Asylum and Migration yesterday.
“But you can also simply resist pressure,” said Van der Burg. “It’s simple: if you keep to the agreements and you meet the criteria, you are welcome in Schengen.”
In Nieuwsuur yesterday it was also about the Dutch refusal to admit Bulgaria. In it, Schengen expert Jorrit Rijpma said that Bulgaria has indeed implemented many reforms in border controls and the rule of law:
Why is the Netherlands blocking Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen zone?
