I explicitly support Bulgaria for Schengen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told PM Nikolai Denkov

"I explicitly support Bulgaria and Romania to become full members of Schengen. Germany will continue to advocate for that with EU partners, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a joint press conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov in Berlin on October 4.

Earlier, the two leaders held a meeting where they discussed topics related to Schengen, the Western Balkans and the war in Ukraine.

"The relations between Germany and Bulgaria are excellent and multifaceted and we want to deepen this cooperation today. Our economic relations are indeed very successful. Last year we achieved a record high trade of 12 billion euros. Bulgarian products, especially supplies for our automotive industry, are in particular demand in Germany. We import more from Bulgaria than we export to Bulgaria," the German Chancellor said.

According to Scholz, Bulgaria is a reliable partner in both the EU and NATO, and this was evident in the reactions to the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

"We are working very closely with each other, the government in Sofia stood firmly and clearly on the side of Ukraine, for which I would like to expressly thank you," Scholz addressed Denkov.

The Chancellor also noted that Germany "is watching with interest" the reforms in the judiciary in Bulgaria because "the rule of law is one of the most important achievements in the EU".

Denkov and Scholz will meet again in the coming days, in the framework of the European political community meeting and the informal European Council. They are expected to discuss the situation in the EU, the Western Balkans and relations with neighbours. The conflicts between Azerbaijan and Armenia and between Serbia and Kosovo will also be in focus.

"Together with the chancellor we agree that we have to put an exclusive focus on the protection of external borders, to help the countries that are under the most pressure, because if we fail to keep this influx of migrants at a low level, all possible redistribution options will not solve the issue, they will just postpone and redistribute it as a problem from one country to another," Nikolai Denkov said.

The Prime Minister said that all countries of the Western Balkans should be integrated as full European states.

It is extremely important that this process be set in motion and move forward, Scholz replied:

"The Western Balkan countries can indeed become EU members. In Thessaloniki 20 years ago, we gave the first confirmation. The same applies to the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM). The RNM can address the relevant decisions and we now want to jointly set these processes in motion. I count on this to happen in close cooperation with Bulgaria as well."

Germany is not only one of the largest investors in Bulgaria - the two countries have built very strong ties in the field of science over the years, Nikolai Denkov further said.

Earlier, in an interview with the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, Nikolai Denkov said that the EU's external border would be better protected by the accession of Bulgaria to Schengen. In his words, the Bulgarian government aims to implement the justice reform by the end of the year so that the Netherlands will have no arguments "against" Bulgaria’s membership. Tomorrow in the Spanish city of Granada, Prime Minister Denkov will take part in the Third Meeting of the European Political Community and on Friday in the informal European Council.

Images by BGNES