“The Netherlands is now alone. All EU countries, Bulgaria; this is vital and will lead to a genuine outcome,” Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said after Friday’s European Council meeting. [Shutterstock/maloff]
While the Netherlands continues to deny the green light for Romania and Bulgaria to join the borders of the European zone, politicians in the Balkan countries warn that this decision, perceived as unfair and discriminatory, threatens to fuel euroscepticism and discord in times of instability.
Last Thursday, the Dutch parliament laid a key in the hope that Romania and Bulgaria will become full Schengen members, although it is not easy for either country to provide more evidence that they are also tackling corruption, which poses serious problems with the functioning of borders and security risks. .
But either country, for which the most recent specialist project showed that they meet all the conditions for Schengen accession, are convinced that they will soon be members and, at least unofficially, expect the Netherlands to take their position, which, according to them, has no legal basis.
“The Netherlands is now alone. All EU countries, Bulgaria; this is vital and will lead to a genuine result,” Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said after Friday’s European Council meeting, a day after the Dutch parliament approved its resolution.
Meanwhile, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca downplayed the Dutch resolution, saying it is not worrisome because Romania has gone to great lengths to comply with technical situations for membership.
In an interview with EURACTIV Bulgaria, Romanian MEP Vlad Gheorghe (Renew Europe) said that if any of the countries stayed out of Schengen again, it would lead to the far right in any of the Balkan countries.
What made Europe strong the COVID-19 crisis and now the war is that it has been held together,” he said.
“This time, the EU will show exactly the opposite, and our enemies will try to use it. We have enemies. We have Putin; we have other autocratic states that need the EU to be dismantled, and they will see this as a best opportunity to help far-right parties grow in our states. The extremists will be happy,” Gheorghe added.
According to him, the Dutch are exporting their domestic politics to the EU level, which creates very bad legal and political precedents for the bloc.
However, for some observers, Dutch reluctance echoes Sofia’s own opposition to North Macedonia’s European integration due to disagreements over language, history and non-unusual minority rights. This sparked an uproar among EU member states and Balkan countries such as Albania, which said Bulgaria was “hostage,” a country that is European and a member of NATO.
Bulgaria has stood firm and said it will only settle for the Macedonian club if Skopje adjusts its constitution, which the ruling party does not have enough votes to adopt.
In an interview with EURACTIV, Bulgarian Justice Minister Krum Zarkov admits that the Dutch can also galvanize anti-European sentiments in Bulgaria.
“Disappointment naturally fuels Euroscepticism. Especially when it is so manifestly unfair. Europe in Bulgaria is related to the requirement to identify the rule of law, which means, among other things, being governed by rules. Bulgaria complied with Schengen situations and acquired the right to be part of the Common Travel Area more than ten years ago,” Zarkov commented.
Rejecting the return of Bulgaria and Romania is endorsing regulations and creates a valid sense of applying double standards, he said.
“There are not many companies, Bulgaria adding, that can settle for their state to comply with all its obligations, but citizens cannot fully enjoy their rights,” he told EURACTIV Bulgaria exclusively.
On 18th October the European Parliament presented its third call in four years for Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to Schengen.
Meanwhile, pro-Kremlin voices are gaining ground in Bulgaria as prolonged political instability continues to wreak havoc in Sofia, and it seems likely that the fifth general election in two years will be held.
Former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, in a country where nearly a portion of the population has strong pro-Russian sentiments, is now struggling to sell his anti-Putin coalition proposal as parties worry about his party’s poor record of corruption.
His GERB party won with just over 25% of the vote, but found himself politically alienated because MPs from the two parties that would do so, DPS and “Bulgarian Rise”, are not enough to form a cabinet.
Meanwhile, the pro-Russian radical Vazrazhdan advanced in his role by coming fourth with around 10% of the vote last month and winning 14 more seats for a total of 27 mandates out of 240 in parliamentary elections. He is running for Bulgaria’s withdrawal from NATO and the EU.