site.btaInterior Minister Kalin Stoyanov Expects Positive Outcome for Bulgaria's Schengen Accession in Fall

Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov expressed Thursday expectations that the EU Council will support Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen Area in the fall.

Stoyanov said he is quite convinced Bulgaria's accession will happen by the end of 2023. The voting at the Council will take place at the end of September or the beginning of October, he pointed out before Bulgarian journalists in Luxembourg, where he participated in a EU ministerial with his peers for the first time.

He pointed out that the incumbent government is committed to European integration and Bulgaria's Schengen accession, and reiterated that it would continue to persist on finding the way to see that accession by the end of the year.

Stoyanov expressed his appreciation for the European Commission's Wednesday announcement for providing financial support to Bulgaria in support of border management and protection. He also stressed unequivocally, that Bulgaria will continue to seek financial support from the Commission, for it cannot engage in the protection of the EU borders on its own. "There is no way we can be left to solve this problem on our own," Stoyanov said on the EC's proposals for changes in the area of migration management. "We are looking for a more common approach, more serious and guaranteed support from all EU countries," he added.