Bulgaria and Romania’s Schengen bid to be put to vote in September
Brussels. 
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“I hope Bulgaria and Romania will join Schengen in September in two phases,” Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said after the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting, announced the press center of the Interior Ministry.
According to him without any opinions against the Council adopted the proposal to put Bulgaria and Romania’s Schengen entry to the vote in September. He added he had met with Dutch Minister for Immigration and Asylum Affairs Gerd Leers.
“The assessment given today about the real condition of Bulgaria and Romania makes us hope the Netherlands will change its position; we have to give clarifications to our Dutch partners about the measures undertaken,” said Tsvetanov.
He added the ministers had decided to work out annual reports as to how Schengen member states meet the membership criteria.
They discussed also Greece’s measures about securing the EU’s external borders. Tsvetanov announced that Poseidon operation of Frontex will extend into the next year. Representatives of the Netherlands participate in it, too.
The ministers discussed also the measures against cross-border organized crime and joint efforts in the area of cyber security. Transiting and visiting gangs are considered to be the main threats. Tsvetanov raised the issue of receiving quicker replies to inquiry orders in trials against groups suspected of VAT frauds. According to him the speed of carrying out the orders impedes quicker administration of justice in such cases. The interior ministers discussed also the information exchange between the European services, specifying that Europol files should contain as much information as possible in order to draft analyses and outline challenges and risks.
Text and photo: http://www.focus-fen.net
(09.03.2012)