Borisov Gets EPP Backing for Bulgaria's Schengen Entry

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov (center) with other EU state leaders during the first day of the EU Council meeting in Brussels. Photo by BGNES

The European People's Party has expressed "expected" support for Bulgaria's Schengen Agreement accession, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov revealed after he took part in a summit of the EU rightists in Brussels.

Borisov said the EPP decided to form a special working group with representatives of the countries that have doubts about Bulgaria's readiness to join the borderless Schengen Area in 2011 – France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

The idea for forming the EPP working group belonged to the Chair of the European People's Party, Wilfred Martens.

The members of the working group will examine all available documents and reports regarding Bulgaria's readiness to guarantee the security of the external Schengen Area borders. They could also visit Bulgaria in person and will have full access to any information they may wish to request from the relevant Bulgarian institutions about the measures those have taken to ensure compliance with the Schengen criteria.

"The only field about which I have made no commitments is the judiciary because this is outside the prerogatives of the executive branch," Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov explained after the meeting, as cited by the correspondent of the Bulgarian National Radio.

He refused to comment on whether the forming of a special working group of the largest European party family with members from the skeptic countries will help Bulgaria join the Schengen Agreement shortly but did express optimism that the Bulgarian government will be able to prove that is has met all the requirements.

The EPP summit took place before a meeting of the EU Council, the state leaders of the EU member states, in Brussels, in which Borisov will take part.

Earlier on Thursday, the Bulgarian PM said he had no intention of pressuring the French government over Bulgaria's hopes for Schengen entry.

In the recent weeks, France produced arguments to support its position that Romania and Bulgaria are not ready to the join Europe's visa-free Schengen travel zone, citing poor border and immigration controls.

The Netherlands, Germany and Austria have also express their reluctance about the two Balkan countries joining the Agreement 2011, caused by the issues with the Roma migration and the faults in both states' judicial systems.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, however, have declared that Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen Agreement will be one of the priorities for Hungary's EU Presidency in the first six months of 2011.

Bulgaria submitted its formal declaration of readiness in September 2007 and sent European authorities follow-up reports, penning in March 2011 as the target date for accession to the Schengen zone.

At the beginning of December, experts from the European Commission were on a mission in Sofia to assess Bulgaria's Schengen readiness, stating that Bulgaria and Romania's entry to the Schengen Agreement depends on the assessment of technical criteria.

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