“There are no real arguments against Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to Schengen,” said Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov, in an interview with Austrian public service TV ORF, as quoted by Bulgaria’s public service TV BNT. If Austria’s position doesn’t change, Bulgarians will be disappointed, and with good reason, and there will be instability on the Balkan peninsula, he says.

“Bulgaria fulfilled the technical criteria for Schengen more than 10 years ago. The federal chancellor of Austria was adamant that there is no problem with Bulgaria and Romania, that the problem is how the Schengen area itself is functioning. But if there is no problem with Bulgaria and Romania, why are we getting punished for these problems which have not been created by the two countries? It is more than difficult, it is impossible to explains to Bulgarians why we are in this situation. Their disappointment will be justified, and they deserve an explanation why this is happening, and why Austria is upholding this position without having any arguments for it,” PM Denkov says.