/ world today news/ In the next two weeks, Bulgaria must make maximum efforts to dissuade all those who want to stop our country for Schengen again. This was said by Petar Vitanov, head of the Delegation of the Bulgarian Socialists in the EP in direct coverage from Strasbourg, for the program “This Morning” on bTV.
“My prediction is that the Schengen topic will not enter the agenda of the Council in December. There will be countries that will express their reservations, as they have already done, albeit semi-officially. The worst scenario for Bulgaria is that the other two countries – Romania and Croatia – will be released, and we will be left waiting. In recent days, things have escalated, but I hope it will not come to such a development, because there are neither legal nor technical arguments for this,” Vitanov said.
The MEP called for maximum efforts to be made at all political and diplomatic levels, and for individual parties to be united in the pursuit of the national goal.
He emphasized that the group of socialists in the European Parliament is completely united, and the resolution in support of Bulgaria and Romania was voted by 150 deputies from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. The serious discussions on the topic continue.
“Yesterday we had a meeting with European Commissioner Ylva Johansson, who undertook to convince her fellow social democrats from Sweden not to stop our country from Schengen,” Vitanov added. Sweden is one of the countries that may not support Bulgaria. A conversation was also held with another influential European Commissioner – Vice President Frans Timmermans, who is from the Netherlands – another country with serious reservations about our membership in the Schengen area.
Petar Vitanov urged the government to active diplomatic work to convince its traditional partners, and if necessary to use exploratory reserves in decisions that require a majority in the Council.
“Bulgaria must give a very strong signal that it cannot be the object of humiliation,” said Vitanov.
On the occasion of the comments related to Lukoil’s Burgas refinery and the possibility of it selling oil outside the country, the MEP was adamant that the situation should be fully clarified before any final action is taken.
“Obviously, in the last 10-12 years, the state has not done its job, since such a large, structure-determining company did not pay its taxes in Bulgaria. The concern now is that refined Russian petroleum products will not be allowed to be sold, effectively meaning the refinery has to close. Let everyone make a simple calculation of how this will affect the citizens, what fuel they will pay and at what price. There is no reason to lie – business and people at this stage are very dependent on this refinery, so it must be crystal clear what the European Commission means, so that there are no different interpretations,” said Petar Vitanov.
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