The Netherlands remains against Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen zone, but will approve the admission of Croatia and Romania next Thursday. State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum and Migration, VVD) said this on Friday after the Council of Ministers. According to Van der Burg, Bulgaria cannot yet be admitted to the European area without internal border controls, because the country would still not meet certain rule of law conditions.
The European Commission and the European Parliament are in favor of the admission of the three countries, but all member states must agree unanimously. According to Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD), the Netherlands is voting against the admission of Bulgaria because the fight against corruption and organized crime in the country is not yet in order. If the Netherlands is no longer concerned about the Bulgarian constitutional state, Rutte may say it will agree “sometime next year”, ANP news agency reports.
The Netherlands is the only obstruction in the debate, which has long caused great annoyance in Brussels. The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the zone has been on the table for ten years. According to Rutte, the decision to lift the blockade for Romania, where the Netherlands had the same concerns, is already a “big step”. The Netherlands previously did not oppose the blockade for Croatia. It Schengen area now consists of 22 countries in which residents can travel freely across borders.
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