Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Austria still won't lift the veto on Bulgaria's entry into Schengen with land borders

Gerhard Karner
Photo: European Council

Austria will wait for the results of the opening of the Schengen area to Bulgaria and Romania by air and water, and only then will it reflect on the opening of the land borders, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said before the meeting of relevant ministers in Brussels.

He clarified that after long negotiations with both countries a compromise was reached, but it is still unclear how Schengen will work from the end of March, when they will join. "Anything else would be hasty and counterproductive," he concluded.

The European Commission insists that Austria abandon the blockade of Bulgaria and Romania so that they can enter Schengen by land. Among the conditions set by Vienna are that Sofia and Bucharest take back registered refugees residing in Austria, as well as that the security of the EU's external borders is guaranteed through additional officers of the Frontex border agency.



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

Interim minister of the Interior Atanas Ilkov

Bulgaria's full Schengen membership will not open the floodgates to the EU, says Interior Minister

A quadripartite meeting of the interior ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria and Romania in Budapest on 22 November made it clear that Austria would lift its veto and that Bulgaria and Romania would probably become full members of Schengen from the..

published on 11/23/24 11:58 AM

President Rumen Radev meets the Bulgarian community in Singapore

President Rumen Radev met with Bulgarians living and working in Singapore during his visit to the Asian country on November 22-24. There are an estimated 400 Bulgarians living in Singapore. "Our diaspora in Singapore occupies a very special..

published on 11/23/24 10:07 AM

Sunny yet cold weather expected on Saturday

The weather on Saturday will be mostly sunny over most of Bulgaria. There will be considerable clouds in eastern Bulgaria before midday and rainfall is expected in the eastern areas, but precipitation will stop also there and clouds will break...

published on 11/22/24 7:35 PM