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

Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen accession is a package deal, assures President Radev

President Rumen Radev
Photo: BTA

Bulgaria and Romania will not be separated on their way to joining Europe's open borders, President Rumen Radev told journalists, commenting on Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu's announcement that Romania will fully join the Schengen area from January 2025. Ciolaku said this after a crucial meeting in neighbouring Hungary on Friday. "We are waiting for positive news on 12 December," Radev announced, but asked journalists not to speculate prematurely on the issue. 

He told reporters that at the recent summit of the European political community in Budapest, he had held in-depth talks with a number of European leaders, including those of Austria, the Netherlands and representatives of the European Commission. 

The President also commented on the situation in Bulgaria. Asked about allegations that the caretaker government had acted in the interests of the DPS-New Beginnings party, the Head of State pointed out that it was the Council of Ministers that had "quickly handed over a building in the centre of Sofia to Delyan Peevski's party, leaving civil servants on the street with hardly any notice". 

"Do we still have to ask ourselves: who makes decisions in the government and how, and what kind of rule of law can we even talk about, while the oligarchy sanctioned under the Magnitsky act swallows up the state in big bites?" the president asked rhetorically. 



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

Bulgaria expresses support for Lithuania following Russian incursion

"Bulgaria expresses strong solidarity with Lithuania following Russia's repeated violations of European airspace, a clear example of deliberate breaches of international law and the territorial integrity of our allies and partners," the Bulgarian..

published on 10/24/25 5:32 PM
Sofia University

Over 63% of Ukrainian students in Bulgaria are ethnic Bulgarians

In the 2024/2025 academic year, 2,104 students from Ukraine were studying at Bulgarian universities , according to the Ministry of Education. Of these, 1,750 were pursuing bachelor’s degrees, 304 were in master’s programmes, and 50 were enrolled in..

published on 10/24/25 5:22 PM
Dan Jørgensen

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen to visit Bulgaria

European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen will visit Bulgaria on 28 October, just days after US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft over Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine, BNR correspondent..

published on 10/24/25 5:08 PM