Bulgaria to Seek Schengen Entry 'In the Future'

Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov has admitted that his country will not join the Schengen agreement anytime soon.

"As you know, Bulgaria's Schengen entry was postponed by the Netherlands' and Finland's stance," Tsvetanov told reporters in Brussels on Thursday.

"Needless to say, we will seek consensus for a future period of time," he added.

Tsvetanov is taking part in the summit of the EU Council on Justice and Home Affairs on March 7th and 8th.

Germany, Finland and the Netherlands are currently opposing Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen accession bids, as they want the two Balkan countries to show more convincing results in their combat against corruption and organized crime.

On Tuesday, Romanian media published information that a total of seven countries oppose Bulgaria's and Romania's accession to Schengen – Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Finland, Denmark and Austria.

Until now the two countries were denied Schengen membership on several occasions mainly over the opposition of the Netherlands on grounds that, even though they have fulfilled the technical requirements, they cannot secure their borders over lack of progress in the fight against corruption and crime.

Joining the passport-free area requires a unanimous vote from its current 26 members. Of the 27 EU states, Britain, Cyprus and Ireland have not applied to join.

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