site.btaMEPs Kyuchyuk, Botos Expect Bulgaria and Romania to Join Schengen by Year’s End

"We expect Bulgaria and Romania to be part of the Schengen area by the end of the year. We have specific expectations from the governments of the Netherlands and Austria. We are here to support the efforts of the Bulgarian and Romanian authorities and to show that Bulgaria and Romania speak with the same voice," MEPs Ilhan Kyuchyuk and Vlad Botos said Saturday at a joint press conference at the Danube Bridge border crossing here. 

"The opposite would mean that Bulgaria and Romania will remain on the outskirts of the European Union - not just in the geographical , but in the political sense as well. I believe that we missed the opportunity for Bulgaria to communicate very publicly with the public of the Netherlands and Austria. That is why, after the initiatives here, my colleague and I will go to those two countries. We will involve our liberal parties, which support Bulgaria and Romania being in the Schengen area. We need a strong voice that is consolidated, but the consolidation has to start here first, from both positions, from both sides," said Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Renew Europe Group MEP. 

Vlad Botos said that the conference Bridge of Expectations: Schengen's Importance for Bulgaria and Romania, which took place Friday in Ruse, will be organised later on Saturday in Giurgiu. "All I can say is that these common steps are here and we will take them together," said Botos, MEP from Renew Europe. 

Commenting the construction of a second bridge over the Danube at Ruse and Giurgiu, for which it was reported a few days ago that Bulgaria and Romania have submitted a joint project to the European Commission for a feasibility study, Bulgaria's Ambassador to Romania Radko Vlaykov said that this is only part of the solution to the connectivity problem. "First is Schengen, second is the bridge and third is the commissioning of the ferry between Ruse and Giurgiu," Vlaykov said.