Bulgaria provoked by Dutch blockade of Schengen accession

Bulgaria has reacted with annoyance to the refusal of the Netherlands to allow the country to join the Schengen area. The Netherlands believes that Bulgaria has the rule of law needs to improve further to tackle corruption and get wind of organized crime.

A comment by Prime Minister Rutte yesterday that migrants could cross the Bulgarian border illegally for 50 euros went wrong. “I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but I want to have explicitly stated that it’s not going to happen,” Rutte said.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has a chirp reacted to Rutte’s words: “Recently, three Bulgarian policemen guarding the external border were killed. Today Prime Minister Mark Rutte unacceptably suggested that people could cross this border for 50 euros. Instead of European solidarity, Bulgaria is getting cynicism”.

Radev also spoke with Rutte, in which he said, according to the Bulgarian news agency Novanite he said that for membership, EU member states should be guided by the criteria set for joining Schengen “and not by other considerations”.

“Leaving Bulgaria out of Schengen is not in the interest of the European Union and does not contribute to the common efforts to address the security challenges and the serious economic crisis in Europe,” said Radev.

The Netherlands said it has no objections to the accession of Romania and Croatia. The extension of ‘Schengen’ is on the agenda for 8 December.

Accession requires unanimous agreement of EU ministers. If the Netherlands votes against, it will not go ahead. That is why the pressure on the Netherlands will increase, State Secretary Van der Burg said yesterday for asylum and migration.

“But you can also just resist the pressure,” Van der Burg said. “It’s simple: if you respect the agreements and meet the criteria, you are welcome to Schengen.”

In Nieuwsuur yesterday there was also talk of the Dutch refusal to admit Bulgaria. In it, Schengen expert Jorrit Rijpma said that Bulgaria has indeed implemented many reforms in border controls and the rule of law: