site.btaUPDATED Interior Minister Optimistic about Bulgaria's Schengen Entry in Mid-2023

"I am optimistic that Bulgaria will enter the Schengen area at the beginning of the second half of this year," Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister for Public Order and Security and Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said after a working meeting here on Monday with visiting Greek Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarachi.

The two discussed issues concerning irregular migration. The guest committed to act as a go-beteween in the talks on Bulgaria's admission to Schengen.

"There is a need of an increased focus on [EU] external border protection, and further efforts are needed to achieve greater solidarity in this department on the part of the EU," Demerdzhiev said.

"The efficiency of irregular migration suppression will become better and better," the Interior Minister believes.

"Our countries are facing common challenges as an external border that irregular migrants cross. We need an effective and clear framework for EU external border protection. Responding to the intensified migration pressure, we must reach agreement on immediate measures for the protection of the Union external borders," Mitarachi said.

In his words, Greece and Bulgaria are agreed that it is precisely in this way that the secondary migration pressure on the EU can be eased.

The guest was adamant about his country's support for Bulgaria's and Romania's Schengen entry. He argued that this process is important for both the EU and Greece itself.

"We were disappointed that a decision on this matter was not reached at the latest [EU] Council in Brussels. I had meetings in Austria last week. It is important to solve this problem as soon as possible because Bulgaria and Romania meet all requirements for joining Schengen," the Greek Minister pointed out.

In his words, this process is important because of its impact on tourism and trade. "This admission will also send a strong political signal about unity on the European continent during a period of a war we haven't seen in decades," Mitarachi said.