site.btaBulgarian PM: Yet Another Barrier On Bulgaria's Way to Full-Fledged Integration into EU Has Been Removed

Commenting on the European Commission’s decision to close the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Bulgaria and Romania on Friday, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said that yet another barrier on Bulgaria’s way to full-fledged integration into the EU has been removed. "We need to remove the remaining barriers in a short time, the ones to Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area and the eurozone," Denkov added.  

"On behalf of the Bulgarian Government, I would like to express my gratitude to the European Commission and the EU Member States' leaders for their appreciation of the progress made by Bulgaria and Romania in implementing the rule of law and the closing of the special verification mechanism for our countries," Denkov said. The mechanism was introduced at the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union in 2007.

From now on, Bulgaria will be subject to the same assessment mechanism as all other EU member states in terms of compliance with the rule of law.