“The decision on our accession to Schengen will be made on December 8, and Bulgaria has every chance to achieve a result – recognition of the right of our country to be in the Schengen area”.
This was stated on BNT by the Acting Minister of Justice Krum Zarkov. He added that in recent months, our country has managed to attract the support of the European institutions on the issue at the highest level. Several checks have also been carried out at our border – all with the conclusion that we fulfill the Schengen requirements.
“We have the last hurdle – the position of the Netherlands. I believe that the Netherlands will take the right position because there is no practical argument to oppose. We have taken a frontal and honest approach, putting everything on the table and showing what is being done. All incidents at the border, including the tragic ones, should be a signal to our European partners, including the Netherlands, that Bulgaria is making sacrifices for their security and that entering Schengen improves security, not the other way around. When the borders with Greece and Romania become more passable, we will be able to concentrate additional efforts and strengthen the protection of the Bulgarian border. Our country cannot fulfill all our obligations, and our citizens do not enjoy the rights arising from this,” commented Zarkov.
According to the Acting Minister of Justice, the National Assembly should not have opened the debate on the Electoral Code and it is a mistake that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has become the main flagship of this topic. According to him, the authors of the claims that the past elections were falsified should be held accountable for their words.
Krum Zarkov fully defended the machine voting and commented that whatever the deputies decide from now on, it will damage the trust in the electoral process because of everything that has been said so far.
“Voting method does not determine the outcome of the election. It can help those who cheat. BSP is not one of those parties, never was and I hope never will be. Therefore, it is not the voting method that will help BSP attract votes,” he pointed out.
Zarkov also commented on BSP leader Kornelia Ninova’s calls to her former party members to return to the ranks of the party. According to him, unification on the left can be achieved only after BSP undergoes renewal, which necessarily includes a change of the party’s chairperson.
“Tensions in BSP are growing – it looks like a pressure cooker. The increasingly isolated leadership is pressing the lid and the valve is starting to leak. The renewal of the BSP is the first step before the unification of the left. Whether the reunification is possible depends on the renewal of the Socialist party. While the pressure cooker is in this situation, I personally will not help its explosion,” Zarkov clarified.
He expressed hope that the 48th Parliament would do its job by passing the necessary laws and forming a majority. He called for the parties to be open.
“This hypothetical talk about a third term, shrouded in fog and shadows, does not bring clarity. The more honestly it is said, the more likely it is to be accepted,” commented Krum Zarkov.