site.btaUPDATED Greece Believes that Bulgaria Fulfilled Schengen Criteria, President Sakellaropoulou Says

Greece believes that Bulgaria has fulfilled the criteria for accession to the Schengen area, visiting Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said here Thursday. She was speaking at a news briefing she held jointly with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev during an official visit to Sofia.

The Greek head of State argued that Bulgaria's Schengen membership should not be delayed any longer.

"Greece has supported Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen agreement consistently," she said.

She went on to speak about the current challenges that call for consolidating the European family and showing solidarity among the EU member states - and Bulgaria in this case," said President Sakellaropoulou. She added that the problems must be solved through dialogue and those who disagree, have to accept that Bulgaria and Romania protect the external EU border.

Earlier in the day, President Sakellaropoulou was awarded with the Order of the Balkan Range with a ribbon for her service to the development of bilateral relations.

She said that she receives the order as a token of the fine bilateral relations and expressed hope that they would continue to improve.