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Bulgaria improving Schengen readiness: official

Xinhua, June 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bulgarian consulates have been maintaining and improving their readiness to meet the Schengen requirements amid country's forthcoming entry into the visa-free zone and strong migratory pressure, an official said Friday.

Rakovski Lashev, head of Consular Relations Directorate at Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry, told a press conference that the country's consulates were continuously maintaining the level of their employees and equipment in the years since 2011 when the European Union (EU) Council and the European Parliament established that Bulgaria was technically ready to join the Schengen Area.

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev recently said his country wanted to join Schengen by 2018, and he believed that "very soon, thanks to the efforts of Bulgarian statehood and with the support of international partners, we will move to the first stage of our accession to the Schengen area, by opening our sea and air borders."

Bulgaria and Romania, EU members since 2007, had hoped to join Schengen in March 2011, but some Schengen members expressed reluctance due to concerns over alleged corruption and the security situation in the two Balkan states. Endit