The government of the Netherlands has given its approval for the admission of Bulgaria to the Schengen zone, declared today the acting Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev at the Council of Ministers in Sofia.

The date for the lifting of checks on persons at the internal land border with and between Bulgaria and Romania is expected to be set at the meeting of the EU Home Affairs Council on 12 December.

"My Dutch counterpart just called me and told me that the Dutch government has agreed to Bulgaria's Schengen membership. The next step is a procedure in their parliament. Even if their parliament does not agree, which is unlikely, the government there can to continue. Step by step we are getting closer to December 12", said Glavchev.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister expressed his belief that on January 1, 2025 they will be ready for the new transit system.

"There will still be checks on the Bulgarian-Romanian border, but they will not be in the current form. This will also apply to the Romanian-Hungarian border for six months, so it is not exclusive to Bulgaria, the idea is to monitor security, both for the countries included in this control framework and for the whole EU, while there are many benefits, security is also important," he said.

Otherwise, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences estimates that Bulgaria's accession to Schengen could bring about 1.6 billion Bulgarian leva annual benefits in all sectors. /BTA