Bulgaria’s Schengen Bid Gets Dutch Approval
The Dutch government has submitted to the country's parliament a decision to back Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen passport-free travel area, the Dutch embassy in Romania said on 15 December.
“Happy to announce that today the Dutch government informed the Parliament of its support for Schengen accession of Bulgaria,”
the Dutch Embassy
“The Netherlands already expressed its support for full application of Schengen acquis to Romania in December 2022,” it added.
Bulgaria and Romania had their long-standing bids to join the area, a decision which required unanimous support from all 27 EU member states.
Last year, Austria along with the Netherlands refused to support both countries citing corruption and inadequate control over illegal migration.
But a recent follow-up mission led by the European Commission to Bulgaria found that there were no shortcomings, including in its border controls.
Austria now remains the sole obstacle to Schengen enlargement to the two Southeast European countries, which has been a priority for the outgoing Spanish EU presidency.
Earlier this week, Austria proposed partial membership for Bulgaria and Romania by abolishing border checks at airports.
Bulgaria and Romania successfully completed the Schengen evaluation process in 2011. Both countries already partially apply the Schengen acquis and checks are carried out at their borders.
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