The pressure on the Netherlands to lift the “veto” against Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen is increasing, as Romania’s path to the free movement zone is conditioned by its decision, writes Mediapool, reported by the Rador Press agency.

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson commented that a new inspection recently took place in Bulgaria, which was “really successful”. Mark Rutte, who continues to lead the Netherlands as interim prime minister, recently said that if the assessment is positive, his country will lift the “veto”.

But although this positive assessment is already there, there is still no reaction from his country. Bulgaria’s accession is blocked by the Netherlands and Austria, and only Vienna has reservations about Romania’s accession.

However, according to some diplomatic sources, Austria may follow the Netherlands if it changes its position on Bulgaria. Thus, it will not be necessary to divide the two Balkan countries, which the European Commission considers undesirable. However, Austrian officials have not yet confirmed this possibility.

Commissioner Johansson: My aim is to make a decision this year

I will take this opportunity to say how well Bulgaria and Romania are ready for Schengen. “My goal remains that a decision will be made this year,” said Commissioner Johansson.

In this context, Romanian MEP Rares Bohdan announced that a vote in the parliament in The Hague is expected next week.

“A year ago, Bulgaria refused to secede from Romania, when Romania could hope for a vote, but then the Netherlands was also against us. In the meantime, Bulgaria has overcome technical and governmental stability issues. The parliament in The Hague, which gave us the vote for accession, was supposed to vote for Bulgaria on December 6, but the vote was postponed for 10 days and will take place on December 14 or 16 in the Dutch parliament,” said Raresh Bohdan, quoted by BTA.

According to him, all diplomatic channels with Austria have been re-opened, and Romania can look forward to step-by-step or full entry into the Schengen area in 2024. Rutte’s ambitions to lead NATO are part of the whole scenario, and for that he also needs Europe’s support. East.

Denkov: Austria and the Netherlands recognize that very great progress has been made

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov has commented that it is more difficult to negotiate after the elections in the Netherlands, but he remains optimistic that Bulgaria will become a member of the Schengen area, and as a result of the positive report from the latest inspection presented these days in Brussels

“The result of this mission is a very positive report, and because these representatives have signed the report, it means that their representatives – Austria and the Netherlands – already recognize that there is very significant progress. From now on, diplomatic efforts will continue to formulate a solution, which will be attempted by the end of this month. At the moment, it is more difficult to negotiate with the Netherlands, but this does not mean that it is impossible, so negotiations are ongoing,” said Denkov.

What reserves does Holland have?

The Netherlands is in a difficult political situation after the far-right, populist, anti-Islamist and Eurosceptic Freedom Party of Geert Wilders won a landslide victory in early parliamentary elections. However, the party remains isolated and will fight to form a government.

The Netherlands’ reservations about Bulgaria’s entry are related to insufficient results in the fight against corruption and the establishment of the rule of law in our country, while the other country that has a veto on our entry, Austria, is focused on the reception of migrants to our territory and the need for a comprehensive reform in the field free movement

The Netherlands wanted to assess the recent legislative changes in our country regarding the supervision of the Attorney General, the changes to the Anti-corruption Commission and the confiscation of illegally acquired assets and the prepared constitutional amendments.

Bulgaria and Romania hope for an extraordinary meeting

The Minister of the Interior of Spain, Fernando Marlasca, expressed hope that the extension of Schengen will take place as soon as possible. He noted that Spain’s presidency of the EU Council will continue until the end of the year. The aspiration of Bulgaria and Romania is to hold an extraordinary meeting in the last days of the year or at the beginning of the next year.

So far, they are working on an option for the two countries to enter first by air and then by land borders.

“We are still working, we hope that the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen will happen as soon as possible,” said the Minister of the Interior of Spain, Fernando Marlasca. The Minister noted that the Council of the EU will also get acquainted with the evaluations of the European Commission after an additional inspection in Bulgaria. The EC mission also included representatives of the Netherlands and Austria.

Romania is waiting for the decision of the Netherlands

Romania is waiting to find out whether the Netherlands will support Bulgaria’s accession to the European free movement area in order to make a decision on the Schengen file, Prime Minister Marcel Çolaku said, as quoted by Agerpres and Digi24. He reminded that elections were held in the Netherlands on November 22 and because of that there was no time to start the voting procedure in the parliament.

“It was more than certain that Schengen would not be discussed at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on December 4 and 5, but the proposal for an extraordinary Council meeting in December remained on the agenda. First, we are waiting for the Netherlands’ decision regarding Bulgaria and we will see how Romania will act,” said the Prime Minister.

Regarding the dialogue with Austria, Çolaku stated that he did not have a direct conversation with Chancellor Karl Nehammer. “Such a discussion will definitely take place after my return to Romania. There were discussions at the level of ambassadors, and the Minister of the Interior also had other contacts,” said Marcel Cholaku, who is on a working visit to the US until December 6.

There is still time until the end of the year for the parliament and the government in The Hague to decide on the lifting of the veto on Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen, which could pave the way for a solution favorable to both countries (Bulgaria and Romania), Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predou said.

(article photo: DreamsTime.com)