Hungary will veto Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen zone if it does not cancel the tax on the transit of Russian gas, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

Budapest’s threat came less than a day after the Netherlands announced it no longer opposes Bulgaria joining the Schengen area.

According to a press release, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Hungary has made it clear to Bulgaria that it will ban entry into the EU if the tax on Hungary’s main gas import route remains in place.

“I made it clear to the Bulgarians that if they support this tax for a long time, if they threaten the security of Hungary’s energy supply for a long time, then we will veto their entry into the Schengen area,” Szijarto said.

While Western European countries have made great efforts to cut off Russian gas, landlocked Hungary has been receiving 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Russia under a deal signed in 2021, mostly through Bulgaria and Serbia

Bulgaria has already suspended the tax on Russian gas

Hungary appears to be calling for the repeal of a law on Russian gas transit taxation, as Bulgaria announced earlier this week that it had decided to delay the imposition of a new tax to avoid jeopardizing its coveted entry into the Schengen zone. .

The new law, which was published in October in Bulgaria’s Official Gazette and took effect immediately, imposes a fee of 20 leva ($10.76) for each megawatt-hour of gas coming from Russia.

This is equivalent to approximately 20% of the base price of natural gas on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The Russian giant Gazprom had to pay the tax.

Hungary, which depends on Russian gas through Bulgaria, said the Sofia move was illegal and wanted the European Union to investigate. Serbia and North Macedonia have also expressed concern about the tax in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria’s prime minister said on Thursday that Hungary had warned it could vote against expanding the Schengen agreement if Bulgaria maintains a tax imposed on Russian natural gas transiting through the country.

Hungary sent an official message on this matter, although not at a very high diplomatic level, and Bulgaria decided to refuse the tax.

“We decided that it is not worth risking steps that are not decisive for Schengen now. The tax was important for the Bulgarian budget and for balancing the fuel market,” said Denkov.

According to Mykola Dienkov, in the matter of joining the Schengen zone, there is no talk of Romania’s separation from Bulgaria. “I heard that the Romanian authorities mentioned this option, but they did not raise it bilaterally or in the Commission,” he said.

Cholaku optimistic about Schengen, Iohannis says there is still room for negotiation

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.

President Klaus Iohannis says “much more needs to be discussed” before Austria has a favorable position on Romania’s accession to Schengen, but he does not rule out a decision by the end of this year. On Thursday in Brussels, at the invitation of the President of the European Commission, the head of state held a meeting with the Chancellor of Austria and the Prime Minister of Bulgaria on the subject of Schengen.

When asked about Cholaku’s optimism about the decision to join Airways in the first phase, Johannis only commented that “there is still a lot to discuss”.

The head of state did not rule out holding an extraordinary JAI Council before the end of the year, but emphasized that “we still have a lot to work on.”

“Negotiations are moving forward, everyone is very involved, and if a solution suddenly appears, it can be formalized, but until then we still have a lot to work on,” he said.

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 magazine after learning last weekend of a possible easing of Austria’s veto on Romania and Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen zone 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.