Bulgaria expects Austria to lift its veto by the end of the year, official says

Bulgaria’s president of the National Assembly, Rosen Jeliazkov, said that his country expects Austria to lift its veto on the admission to Schengen by the end of the year, after the trilateral discussions regarding the Migration and Asylum Pact are concluded.

Rosen Jeliazkov emphasized that Austria's position on Bulgaria's Schengen accession is separate from Bulgaria meeting the membership criteria.

"We expect that, during the Spanish presidency, the trilateral discussions on the Migration and Asylum Pact will be successfully concluded by the end of this year, so that Austria's expectations can be met, and Bulgaria can benefit from the lifting of the Austrian veto," said Rosen Jeliazkov.

The statements were made by the Bulgarian official after his meeting with the president of the Austrian National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, as reported by the Bulgarian Parliament's press center, cited by Rador Radio Romania and G4Media.

Sobotka was invited to Bulgaria by his Bulgarian counterpart, with whom he discussed.

The president of the Austrian National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, emphasized that Europe is facing serious problems that countries can only solve together and that one of these issues is migration.

"Do not see the Schengen veto as a veto against Bulgaria," he told Bulgarian parliamentarians. "It was very difficult for us to decide on this veto," Sobotka added. "We see the efforts you are making for the security of European citizens, but the entire EU needs to understand that the refugee policy must provide them with the opportunity to integrate," he added.

Sobotka also urged Bulgarian parliamentarians to participate in developing a reasonable EU migration policy, as the Schengen area has no longer functioned as it should have since 2015. The same applies to the Dublin Agreement, the Austrian representative added, noting the many border controls already taking place in Europe.

"For this reason, we have imposed the right of veto on Bulgaria's entry into the Schengen area, about which I want to emphasize explicitly that it has nothing to do with Bulgaria. Bulgaria fulfills its obligations regarding Schengen acceptance criteria. I personally had the opportunity to verify this today at the Bulgarian-Turkish border," said Wolfgang Sobotka.

The Austrian official also had meetings with the Bulgarian president and the prime minister, who tried convincing him of the benefits Austria would gain from Bulgaria's Schengen membership.