Rutte thinks Bulgaria is not ready to join the Schengen area

Bulgaria is not yet ready for the Schengen area of 27 European countries, where people can travel without border controls, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte said. The country still needs to take "some more important steps," he said after the Cabinet meeting.

Rutte responded to a European Commission assessment that was positive about Bulgaria's rule of law. The country has been under special scrutiny for many years because of shortcomings in the rule of law. That monitoring may now end, the European Commission said. It has long been believed that Bulgaria and Romania meet the requirements for Schengen accession.

"We want to see that confirmed," the outgoing Prime Minister replied. He pointed to another recent European Commission report on the rule of law in Bulgaria, which showed that while progress was being made, there was still room for improvement in other areas. "We will wait for this report in the coming months," he said.

Rutte said he had discussed the issue with his Bulgarian counterpart on Thursday. According to him, the government in Sofia is certainly not being kept on a leash. “There are still a few important steps to be taken by Bulgaria,” outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte argued on Friday during his weekly press conference, Trouw reported. However, Bulgaria has been asking to join the Schengen area for years.

The Netherlands already considered Romania ready for Schengen at the end of last year, but this country has to wait until neighboring Bulgaria also gets a free hand. This is rather inconvenient, State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Justice and Security) admitted at the time.

Even though almost all EU countries would like to include Bulgaria and Romania, it is not only due to the Netherlands alone that the two countries are not yet part of the Schengen area. According to Trouw, Austria represents the biggest obstacle in the endeavor, as it is currently massively blocking the accession of the two countries.