President Radev: Bulgaria and Romania deserve to become Schengen members

Bulgaria and Romania deserve to finally become Schengen members, Bulgaria’s Head of State Rumen Radev on October 6 told the presidents of 13 countries gathered in Malta for the Arraiolos group meeting In Radev's words, Sofia and Bucharest have long met the criteria.

The war in Ukraine, the migration and energy crises, securing the EU's borders and the possibilities for the EU to become a geopolitical player were among the topics discussed in the meeting. The summit of the heads of state of the Arraiolos Group brings together the presidents of member states that are parliamentary republics. This is their 17th meeting.

"The main focus is Russia's war against Ukraine and a united Europe cannot and must not remain indifferent to this war because its escalation is the greatest threat to peace and security on the old continent since the Second World War. This calls for clear action and it is in everyone's interest that this acrimony gives way to dialogue and peace negotiations, because the secondary effects of the war are being felt on all of us and, above all, on neighbouring countries."

"Another important issue - extremely important for Bulgaria - is that we and Romania can no longer be kept out of the Schengen area just because, 11 years after we have met all the technical requirements, someone keeps inventing some unwritten criteria. We all lose from that. Bulgaria loses, our business loses, our tourism loses, our citizens lose and our economy as a whole loses. Bulgaria cannot show solidarity and invest enormous financial and human resources in protecting our common European border and, in return, receive incomprehension and double standards. Bulgarians cannot be second-class Europeans and wait humiliatingly at all the checkpoints of Europe. This cannot happen, we will not put up with it," Head of State Rumen Radev said.

In Prague, where the President will land later in the day, he will discuss the topics of energy and economy in the meeting of the European Policy Community, a French initiative that brings together the European Union with 17 countries from the eastern neighbourhood, such as Ukraine and Moldova, as well as the Western Balkans, to discuss security issues.

An informal meeting of European Council leaders will be held tomorrow in the Czech capital.