I am optimistic that Bulgaria can be accepted in Schengen and by land by the end of the year. We insist on this. Both Bulgaria and Romania, since 2011, meet absolutely all technical criteria. Another issue is that over the years we (both we and the entire EU) experienced situations with a very large wave of migrants.
This was stated to "Euronews Bulgaria" the chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce Dobri Mitrev.
Europe's single internal market – which we recently celebrated our 30th anniversary – shows that if we continue to be outside the land part of Schengen, this harms not only Bulgaria and Romania, but the whole of Europe. European citizens feel this with the prices of goods and services they pay, with the deteriorating ecological environment, with the lack of opportunities for better trade, better competitiveness, with the lack of opportunity for labor mobility...
We have tried, together with the European Economic and Social Committee, to show this point of view: the price that all of us and all of Europe are paying for still remaining outside. We have the assurances of the European Commission that Europe will insist that all member states in practice approve the land entry of Bulgaria and Romania by the end of the year.
We lose over BGN 1.4 billion annually from direct and indirect losses – at the same time, against the background of quite conservative assumptions. If we value the time of people sitting at the borders in money, the amount can swell to 2 billion.