Romania: Bulgaria's Low-Profile Approach over Schengen Lacks Dignity

Bulgaria's government has repeatedly said it is working hard to cover the Schengen Agreement criteria and join the zone March 2011. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's readiness to negotiate with France and Germany following their decision to postpone the country's accession to the Schengen space is not correct and dignified and Bucharest will not follow it, Romania's foreign minister has said.

"Following the recent decision by France and Germany to postpone Romania's accession to the Schengen space, country has two options," Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi said, speaking to the daily Adevarul.

One, he said, was that Romania could admit its failures and follow in the footsteps of Bulgaria by starting to negotiate with the two older EU members.

According to Baconschi this is not the right option, as the "correct" and "dignified" response is in his view to block attempts by Paris and Berlin to establish "a two-speed Europe".

He threatened that Bucharest could "unilaterally" ditch the CVM, explaining that it should be a two-way street and a co-operation platform rather than a "handicap."

In a letter sent at the end of last year to the European Commission, German and French interior ministers said Romania and Bulgaria must make "irreversible progress" in terms of CVM monitoring before they can enter Schengen, referring to the so-called Co-operation and Verification Mechanism, through which Brussels monitors the progress the two countries are making in justice and home affairs.

When the two countries joined the EU, in 2007, persistent corruption and insufficient reforms of their jutice systems determined the set-up of an unprecedented monitoring mechanism, which so far led to the freezing of some EUR 500 M in Bulgaria due to fraud associated with EU funds.

Bulgaria's government has repeatedly said it is working hard to cover the Schengen Agreement criteria and join the zone March 2011. The Balkan country has also started working with the Schengen Information System (SIS).

Bulgaria's government has been keeping a low profile over France's Roma crackdown, apparently fearing that tension with Paris might put at risk its Schengen accession.

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