Rumiana Jeleva: EU Member States Insists on More Serious Sanctions for Bulgaria and Romania regarding Justice and Home Affairs

"A group of European Union member states insists on more serious sanctions regarding the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism in the field of justice and home affairs for Bulgaria and Romania, despite the fact that the last report covers a period from the term of the previous government", the Minister of Foreign Affairs Rumiana Jeleva said at a press conference in the Council of Ministers.

"We have set the task to prove with our strong will, that the new government takes concrete measures in order to achieve concrete results and to prevent extending the scope of the mechanism", she explained, cited by Focus Agency. Thus, actions will be taken in order to meet the requirements for entering the Schengen agreement, since there are numerous problems in this field.

As Europe Gateway reported earlier today, according to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the progress of Romania and Bulgaria is inadequate. "The Dutch government will continue to insist on improving the situation in both countries until they reach the European level", reads the letter, sent to the European Commission by the Hague. "If this does not happen, there will be serious consequences for the transfer of European funds to both countries and for their entering the Schengen Area", reads the answer of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the progress report for Bulgaria and Romania in the field of justice and home affairs, presented on July 22, the online service for geopolitics and analyses ISRIA reported. Click to read more.

In mid-August the new government, headed by Prime Minister Borisov set up an inter-agency coordination team, which is to monitor the progress of Bulgaria on Chapter 24 - Justice and Home Affairs. Minister of Justice Margarita Popova chairs this newly established structure. Deputy Prime Ministers Simeon Dyankov and Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Minister of Foreign Affairs Rumiana Jeleva and the head of State Agency National Security Tsvetelin Yovchev also take part in it. The team monitors the progress of Bulgaria on all six indicators, described in the report.