It is important for Bulgaria to continue to maintain its position, according to which it received the status of a member of the Schengen zone, according to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria Maria Gabriel, who also commented on the latest scenario of the gradual accession of Bulgaria and Romania.

Speaking to reporters about Bulgaria’s bid to join the Schengen zone, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel said on Friday that Sofia maintains its position of understanding the domestic political situation in other countries, as well as a position achieved through hard work. , efforts and results, BTA writes, Agerpres reports.

“It is important that Bulgaria continues to maintain its position that it has received Schengen membership,” the Bulgarian official said.

She cited an October 18 European Commission report showing that “Bulgaria has implemented effective border management with effective border surveillance and systematic border controls.” Bulgaria’s foreign minister said a successful mission followed the report in November.

Negotiations are underway with the Netherlands and Austria at the same time, but the positions of other member states are also important, Maria Gabriel said.

She thanked the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU for keeping the subject of Schengen on the agenda.

What the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria says about gradual accession

Asked if there was an option for Bulgaria to step in, Gabriel said that if there was an option, it would have to include land borders. It is a Schengen package that includes air, land and sea borders, which will facilitate business, reduce border congestion and bring real benefits to people.

When Maria Gabriel asked if Bulgaria had set additional conditions, she replied that all conditions were met.

“Discussions are underway on voluntary measures that are part of the Schengen legislation to confirm Bulgaria’s readiness to protect the EU’s external borders. It’s not about conditions, but about joint actions,” she said.

Answering the question whether there is a “tightening of the door” regarding the terms of Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen, Gabriel said that this is part of the specifics of the negotiations.

She also said there was no risk of Bulgaria and Romania drifting apart in the fight for Schengen and stressed the importance of them staying together.

Accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen in two stages

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Friday that negotiations on Romania’s accession to the air and sea Schengen zone could be completed within the next two days. The Head of Government noted that next year the negotiations on the ground Schengen zone may be completed.

• No chance for Romania to join Schengen this year. The latest calendar agreed with Austria – sources

“We hope to conclude in the next two days the negotiations on joining the Schengen area in the first phase, air and naval, and to complete as much of the infrastructure as possible by next year, (…) and to Prepare also for next year when I I also hope to complete the negotiations regarding this time joining the land-based Schengen area,” Çolaku said.

• Johannis’s conclusion after the Schengen discussion with the Chancellor of Austria: “There is still a lot to agree on”

Conditions of Austria

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said he presented the European Commission with “clear conditions” that must be met before Vienna agrees to admit Romania and Bulgaria to the so-called “Air Schengen”, APA reports.

“Now it’s the Commission’s turn,” Karner told Ö1’s morning daily after learning at the weekend of the possible easing of Austria’s veto on the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area with the abolition of air borders.

“It’s about the fact that we need progress in the field of protection of the EU’s external borders,” Karner emphasized.

In particular, he asks the Commission to triple the number of border police.

Also, the Commission should allocate funds for border protection infrastructure. First of all, technical modernization of the Bulgarian-Turkish and Romanian-Serbian borders is necessary.

In addition, Carner is calling for stronger land border controls and for Romania and Bulgaria to take in asylum seekers, especially Afghans and Syrians.

Karner motivated the request to support border control by “the problem of human trafficking.” Out of just over 50,000 asylum seekers in Austria, only around 150 migrants made it through the airports, the interior minister explained.

Prime Minister Marcel Çolaku announced on Saturday evening that Austria “has made its position more flexible with regard to the Schengen area and agrees to the abolition of air borders for Romania”. “This means that Romanians will no longer stand in endless queues when flying within the European Union,” he explained.

Why Air Schengen is offensive to Bulgarians

The statements of the Minister of the Interior of Austria, Gerhard Karner, about the partial opening of the Schengen zone without passport control for Bulgaria only by air, not only did not please the Bulgarians, but even offended them a little. And the leader of the deputies from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Delian Pejewski, directly said that this is not enough, writes 24Chasa, reports Rador Radio Romania.

Air Schengen, however, doesn’t really solve anything. Bulgaria’s economy will not change, and the loss of 1 billion leva per year due to the parking of trucks at the borders will remain a burden.

Also, most Bulgarians traveling for tourism will not realize that Bulgaria is part of the Schengen area.

Because there are five times fewer Bulgarians traveling by plane than those traveling by car to neighboring Greece. And these people will continue to stand in long queues. Statistics show that Bulgarians from the European Union prefer vacations or long weekends to Greek resorts, where they most often arrive by their own transport. And every year, the queues are getting longer, especially on weekends.

From February to October of this year, 1,656,052 Bulgarians visited Greece. Car queues started at 87,125 people in February to reach more than 244,000 in September. 165,104 people caught the last sea bath in Greece in October.

For comparison, from the beginning of 2023 to the end of November, almost 1.2 million Bulgarians went to the five most desirable EU countries, which is 400,000 less than to Greece. Compared to last year, the number of Bulgarians who crossed the border to Greek cities and resorts increased. In 2022, there were 1,320,613 of them. This means that there were approximately 240,000 more tourists per year. This trend has persisted since the 1990s.

Then the Bulgarian “discovered” the Mediterranean Sea, after during the times of socialism he could only go to the Black Sea for summer vacations. At first, he began to spend vacations in the northern resorts around the cities of Thessaloniki, Kavala and the island of Thassos. It later relaxed to reach more remote locations and beaches.

The National Institute of Statistics keeps travel information for the past 15 years. According to them, in 2008, 1,709,510 Bulgarians entered Greece. At the same time, trips for the same year to the most desirable countries of the West – Italy, France, Spain, Austria and Germany – were halved – 859,311.

In 2009, when construction and investment stopped due to the financial crisis, the number of Greece fans fell slightly to 1,583,369, and in 2010 it increased further to 899,357. After 2015, the trend was towards steady growth. In the pre-spring period of 2019, there were 1,461,096 people.

Approximately 200,000 fewer Bulgarians traveled to the five most visited European countries in the same year, before the pandemic. The trend is the same – from 2008 to 2013, there was a decline, and then a gradual increase. And it is natural that in 2020, when the borders were closed and restrictions were introduced due to the coronavirus, there were fewer trips. Interest in vacationing in Greece and the European Union is gradually returning after 2021.

Some Bulgarians who come to Greece or other EU countries work there. The statistics do not take into account who has a job abroad and who only goes on a business trip or vacation. But those who set themselves the goal of earning through a higher standard of living travel at least once or twice a year. And for some of them, who cross the border with Greece in private cars, Air Schengen will not solve any problem.

However, in Brussels, it seems, Austria’s idea is accepted. The European Commission has repeatedly supported the thesis that Bulgaria and Romania are ready to become members of the Schengen zone. Now the EC has confirmed that there are already discussions on the implementation of Air Schengen, the Euronews website reports.

“These are positive developments. Things are moving in a positive direction. And this is undoubtedly important at this stage,” said the spokesperson of the Commission recently. But Bulgaria needs a comprehensive solution – both to stimulate the economy and to enter Greece without long queues. Actually, also in Romania, since according to statistics, after Greece, Bulgarians go to Romania the most.

However, for the time being, most Bulgarians remain a trespasser at the border, writes 24Chasa, reports Rador Radio Romania.