PanEuropa Bulgaria welcomes the efforts of the Bulgarian institutions, the Spanish Presidency and the European Commission, which have led to full, albeit partial, membership of Bulgaria in the Schengen area.

With the decision of the Council of the EU of 30 December 2023, in addition to the fall of internal borders by air and sea, Bulgaria received full access to all instruments, incl. Schengen and Visa Information Systems, as well as the right to issue Schengen visas.

In the spirit of the fundamental principle of rule of law in the EU, it was the Treaty for Bulgaria’s EU membership of 25 April 2005 that protected our country from excessive demands from other members of the Schengen area.

The lack of a targeted communication strategy in the country turned out to be a missed opportunity for Bulgarian citizens and an excellent opportunity for mass dissemination of disinformation and propaganda – a gap that should be corrected in the upcoming integration efforts, including in our country’s path to the euro area.

We call on the upcoming Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU to spare no effort to reach a unanimous decision to lift internal land borders.
We believe that this decision will be taken as soon as possible, accelerating the economic integration of Bulgaria