Brussels, 16/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - According to a senior figure at Europol speaking in Sofia and quoted by AFP on Tuesday, expanding the Schengen area to include Bulgaria and Romania is likely to encourage illegal immigration over the Greek-Turkish border. On 4 May the Europol agency made this observation in a report on the threats linked to organised crime. It added that criminal groups, particularly Albanian-speaking, Turkish and those from the former USSR, could also exploit the accession of these two countries to develop their own activities in the EU.
Speaking during a conference on Schengen, Jean-Dominique Nollet, the head of the Europol analysis unit, explained that “the possible accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area… could increase pressure on the Greek-Turkish border and the Bulgarian side of the Black Sea, which could become a target for illegal immigration”. Nevertheless, he underlined the fact that Bulgaria and Romania joining the Schengen area should not be used as a means to frighten anybody but rather as an opportunity to take “appropriate measures” in advance, particularly for preventing any increase in human trafficking and organised crime in the Balkans.
These potential risks, compounded with efforts made by Sofia and Bucharest that are still seen by other member states as being insufficient in terms of the fight against corruption, led home affairs ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday to postpone a decision on the Schengen accession calendar until next September. One possible scenario mentioned was that Sofia and Bucharest could join the Schengen area in two different stages. The first stage would consist of opening up the air and maritime borders at the end of 2011 and the second phase, in 2012, would involve the opening up of land borders. Schengen member states, however, still have the right to impose conditions on this accession, based on the lessons learned from the Commission reports, which assessed progress made by the two countries in fighting corruption and pushing through legal reforms. The next report is planned for July this year. (S.P./transl.fl)