Netherlands drops objection to Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen area

The Netherlands agreed to Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen area on Friday. For a long time, the Dutch government believed that the Eastern European country did not meet the conditions for accession but has now agreed. This was stated by outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Justice and Security) in a letter to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. The Netherlands was under considerable pressure for some time to admit Bulgaria.

The Schengen zone now consists of 27 European countries where travel is possible without border checks. The Netherlands, to the great annoyance of the European Commission and the European Parliament, had been obstructing Bulgaria’s entry for a long time. Both Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Van der Burg kept stating that Bulgaria was not yet ready for accession.

Recently, under the leadership of the European Commission, a fact-finding mission was conducted in Bulgaria, which found no shortcomings, Van der Burg wrote. And since "we had already determined that Bulgaria has implemented rule of law reforms in a sustainable manner, we conclude that Bulgaria meets the requirements for Schengen accession and can join the Schengen area," he wrote. The Netherlands insists, however, that Bulgaria "continues to work on strong external borders," the State Secretary added.

So much has improved that it "would just be very unfair" if the Netherlands continued to block Bulgaria, Rutte said in the corridors of the EU summit in Brussels. The Netherlands has done this "for about fourteen, fifteen years," but "you really see that progress now. Then you have to be fair. If we were to say, you do everything, but still we keep you out, that is just not correct.”

The European Commission is positive about the rule of law in Bulgaria and has long believed that the country meets the conditions to become a Schengen member. The Netherlands requested an additional report, which turned out positive.

Besides the Netherlands, Austria also opposed Bulgaria's accession. Sofia and Vienna are still discussing how this resistance can be overcome, so that the accession can be finalized. The Netherlands' turnaround could help with this, according to EU sources.