Greece is taking the initiative for Bulgaria and Romania’s faster accession to the Schengen area. This was made clear after a meeting between Interior Minister in the caretaker cabinet Ivan Demerdzhiev and Greece’s Minister of Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi, held in Sofia. Minister Demerdzhiev is optimistic that Bulgaria’s entry into Schengen will be completed by mid-2023.

“Together with my counterpart from Greece we discussed the ways the EU’s external borders can be protected. We agreed that the European Commission should support our countries,” Ivan Demerdzhiev stated.

The two sides also agreed that the dialogue with Turkey is crucial to the success of the efforts to tackle illegal migration, and Bulgaria will act as mediator in the dialogue, Minister Demerdzchiev said.