Top Cop Praises Bulgaria's Schengen Readiness

Bulgarian Interior Head Tsvetan Tsvetanov is convinced his country is prepared to join the Agreement. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria has not made any compromises with security and has met all Schengen assessment criteria by March 15, the country's Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov declared Monday.

"From now on, (Bulgaria's Schengen entry) is a question of political decision," Tsvetanov stated, as cited by Darik radio. He pointed out that Carlos Coelho, the European Parliament's rapporteur on the subject, recently said Bulgaria has even covered some of the assessment criteria better than some currenT members of the Agreement.

France's Interior Minister Claude Gueant, who will visit Bulgaria Monday, will not inspect Bulgarian border crosspoints during his uppcoming visit, Tsvetanov revealed, as his stay will be too short.

Bulgaria and Romania have already met the technical criteria for joining Europe's border-free zone, but they are supposed to overcome the political objections to their Schengen accession on behalf of several EU member states which have demanded greater results from Bulgaria in fighting crime and corruption – even though those requirements are not technically part of the Schengen process.

Last Thursday, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and his German counterpart, Guido Westerwelle reiterated that Bulgaria and Romania are not ready to join Europe's border-free zone at this moment.

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