Bulgarian Interior Minister Gets Pat on the Back by Open Society on Schengen

Bulgarian Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov receives Sunday the report by Open Society on Bulgaria's progress toward Schengen from the institute's director Georgi Stoychev (R). Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria will have fulfilled all requirements to enter the Schengen Area by the March 31, 2011 deadline, according to a report released Sunday by Bulgarian NGO Open Society.

The document states that measures required for Schengen accession are going at a very good pace and there are sufficient grounds to believe they will continue to do so.

43 out of the 48 measures have been finalized, some quicker than planned.

Bulgarian Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who attended the presentation of Open Society's report, expressed satisfaction and elaborated the efforts of his ministry in the process.

He stated he believes Bulgaria and Romania, who is also applying for the Schengen Area, will join the treaty together in 2011.

Measures that have to be finalized involve visa policy and the use of the Schengen information system. Open Society Institute recommended a speeding up of adopting relevant legislative measures.

Minister Tsvetanov and representatives from the NGO expressed confidence that Bulgaria's work on Schengen accession will continue to be as successful as it has been up to now.

In March the Ministry of Interior and Open Society had signed an agreement for the NGO to produce monitoring reports on Bulgaria's progress on Schengen accession.

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