site.btaUPDATED PM Denkov: No Indications Bulgaria, Romania Are Running on Different Tracks as Far as Schengen Is Concerned

Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov Wednesday said that there are no indications that Bulgaria and Romania are running on different tracks as far as entry to the Schengen area is concerned. He was speaking during a Q&A session on social media.

Commenting on Romanian Prime Minister Ion-Marcel Ciolacu’s statement made in a Bloomberg interview Tuesday that Bucharest may weigh splitting its Schengen bid from Bulgaria's effort, Denkov said that this evaluation is for “internal use” in Romania only. “We have fulfilled our commitments relating to the rule of law. We have made exceptional progress on border protection. We need to move forward to Schengen together, because we have to solve our common problems with Romania. There is no reason to discuss such a separation,” Denkov added.

“What we still hear as arguments against is that the Schengen system does not work, which is what the Austrian chancellor and foreign minister are saying,” the Prime Minister recalled. “This is not our problem, but an EU problem, and we have every reason to say that this cannot be a stumbling block for Bulgaria,” he said, adding that he is “moderately optimistic that we will be able to win this conversation because we have all the arguments needed”.

Meanwhile, Agerpres quoted Romanian President Klaus Iohannis as telling a news conference in Belgium that the best-case scenario is for Romania and Bulgaria to accede together to the Schengen area, and "this is the point in all negotiations and all attempts to convince those who have reservations on that matter".

As to the euro area, Denkov recalled that there are three main criteria for joining. “We are doing very well on two of them,” he pointed out. The Prime Minister added that only the inflation rate in Bulgaria exceeds the desired threshold and said that there were precedents as far as this criterion is concerned, and Croatia was one such. “It [Croatia] was admitted to the eurozone without fulfilling this criterion,” Denkov said.

He added that Bulgaria has every reason to request “a review that would show that there is no problem with the financial stability of the country”.

“These assessments will be made in April or May of next year, when it is unclear what inflation will look like,” Denkov added. “We have every reason to follow the plan,” he said, noting that later in the day the Council of Ministers will consider an updated national plan for the euro changeover, which he expects to take place on January 1, 2025.