Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Bulgaria might enter Schengen in 2023

Dutch PM Mark Rutte
Photo: EPA/BGNES

Before the European Council, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that Bulgaria might enter Schengen in 2023 and that this could happen as early as the summer. 

"We don't say 'no', but 'not now'. We need two more things from Bulgaria - to complete the monitoring mechanism of the Schengen information system and secondly, a new evaluation of the cooperation and verification mechanism". This can be done by the summer and if there is a positive development, Bulgaria can join Schengen," Rutte said.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev commented: "October at the latest - this is the latest date and goal that we set for ourselves and for which we already have increasing support. It depends a lot on whether the Bulgarian parliament will adopt two important laws now, in January - one related to the accountability of the country's prosecutor general and the anti-corruption law". 
Radev also stated that he will give more time to the second political force to try to form a government, BNR correspondent in Brussels Angelina Piskova reported.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Temenuzhka Petkova

Finance Minister to present Bulgaria's euro area readiness in Brussels

Bulgarian Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova will travel to Brussels to provide an update on Bulgaria’s progress towards euro area accession. The Finance Ministry has confirmed that Minister Petkova will participate in the Eurogroup meeting on 17..

published on 2/17/25 7:40 AM

Snow, rain and freezing temperatures

Minimum temperatures on Monday will be between minus 4 and 1°C. In Sofia it will be around minus 3°C. The mercury will hover between -3 and 0 °C in the north. Maximum temperatures in southern Bulgaria will be between 2 and 7°C. In the capital it will..

published on 2/16/25 7:05 PM

New Russian emigration in Bulgaria pays tribute to Alexei Navalny

The one-year anniversary of the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was marked with a memorial service in Sofia's St Nedelya Cathedral. It was organised by the movement "For a Free Russia" - an association of Russian immigrants in..

published on 2/16/25 5:39 PM