EU Presidency Refutes Bulgaria, Romania Schengen Postponement

Hungarian Minister of Interior Sandor Pinter, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency first half of 2011. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The office of the Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter has disproved prior information that the Hungarian EU Presidency supports the postponement of Bulgarian and Romanian Schengen accession until after October.

Earlier Thursday it was reported that minister Pinter has stated that Bulgaria and Romania will join Schengen not in March, as initially planned, but no earlier than October, as has been requested by member states such as France and Germany.

The Bulgarian National Radio spoke to the Hungarian Minister of Interior's office, which stated Pinter's words were "not understood or misinterpreted."

It also became clear that an official statement from the Hungarian Ministry of Interior is expected later on Thursday.

During his trip to Bulgaria in mid-December, Pinter had declared Bulgaria's entry in the Schengen zone will be one of the priorities of Hungary's EU Presidency, while just this week Bulgaria's Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, received the same assurances from his Hungarian counterpart.

Also in December, France and Germany voiced strong opposition to the two countries' joining of Schengen over worries organized crime there can threaten the security of the EU outside borders.

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