Bulgarian MEPs call on Dutch to let their country join Schengen

Bulgarian members of the European parliament have launched an appeal to Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte to let their country, as well as Romania and Croatia, join the Schengen area on January 1, 2023. ‘The 11-year unprecedented and groundless blocking of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area by the Council of the EU, and in particular by the Netherlands, must end,’ they said. ‘Decisions on the enlargement of the Schengen area should not depend on the national agenda of one member state or another.’ All Bulgarian MEPs appealed today to the Dutch government to take into account the assessment of the @EU_Commission & the resolutions of the @Europarl_EN so that the process of expanding the Schengen area continues with the accession of Bulgaria & Romania by the end of this year. pic.twitter.com/cjgZVvjZpp — Andrey Novakov November 10, 2022 ‘Bulgaria and Romania are in the Schengen Information System and contribute to the EU’s border security, but our citizens and transport businesses are not enjoying the benefits of free movement across the Schengen area,’ MEP Andrey Kovatchev told Dutch News.