Bulgaria's Schengen Entry to Depend on July EC Monitoring Report

Karel van Kesteren, Dutch Ambassador to Bulgaria, demands evidence of Bulgaria`s progress in the sphere of justice and home affairs before approving the country`s accession to the Schengen Agreement. Photo by BGNES.

Bulgaria's accession to Schengen will be tied to the results of EC's July report on the monitoring mechanism in the sphere of justice and home affairs, announced Karel van Kesteren, Dutch Ambassador to Bulgaria.

In an interview for Deustche Welle, van Kesteren made it clear that the Netherlands had not changed its stance on Bulgaria's Schengen bid, continuing to insist on lasting progress in the fight against corruption and organized crime.

"Bulgaria's entry into Schengen presupposes the elimination of corruption and confidence in the judicial system. Otherwise, our decision to back such a move would be risky", the diplomat stated.

The Dutch Ambassador also pointed out that, while the Netherlands were highly appreciative of Bulgaria's technical preparedness for Schengen membership, that alone did not suffice.

The Netherlands, together with Germany, France and other countries, has threatened to block Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen entry until the countries report tangible progress in combating corruption and organized crime.

This stance was echoed by Ben Knapen, Dutch Minister of European Affairs and International Cooperation, who visited Bulgaria earlier in May.

"According to Ben Knapen, technical readiness is of absolutely no importance, provided that, when given a banknote of EUR 100, the operator turns his head aside to let the truck full of illegal immigrants enter Bulgarian territory.", van Kesteren added.

Bulgarian authorities insist that the country join Schengen by end-2011, refusing to accept the involvement of political criteria in the decision.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country currently holds the EU rotating presidency, recently said that there was no political support for the two countries' Schengen accession within the EU, given that the decision must be taken in absolute agreement.

Citing allegations of German Ambassador to Bulgaria Matthias H?pfner about two judicial systems at play in Bulgaria, one for ordinary Bulgarians and one for "untouchable persons", van Kesteren emphasized the importance of a reliable judiciary in Bulgaria prior to its Schengen accession.

Matthias H?pfner's statement about the double standards in the Bulgarian judiciary echoed the opinion of US Ambassador to Bulgaria James Warlick, who claimed that "there are two judicial systems in Bulgaria- one for the wealthy people wielding power, who remain above the law, and one for the ordinary Bulgarians."

Earlier this month, Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov confirmed that EU ministers of justice and foreign affairs would rather wait for the EC monitoring report before giving the green light to Romania and Bulgaria.

The two countries can not join the Schengen area without the approval of all of its 25 member states.

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