Netherlands lifts its objection to Bulgaria joining EU's Schengen zone

The Dutch government has "come to the conclusion that Bulgaria meets the conditions set for Schengen accession and can therefore agree to a decision leading to Bulgaria's full application to Schengen", Dutch Deputy Justice Minister Eric van der Burg said, according to AFP.

The Schengen area comprises 23 of the 27 EU member countries plus associated neighbours Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

But a recent follow-up mission led by the European Commission to Bulgaria found that there were no shortcomings, including in its border controls, Van der Burg said.

The country "continued to correctly apply the Schengen acquis", he said in a letter to parliament.

"The government welcomes the results of the fact-finding missions and agrees with the conclusions drawn up by the experts from the member states and the Commission," Van der Burg said.

"It shows that Bulgaria has continued to invest in the correct application of the entire Schengen agreement in recent years," he said.

He added however that Bulgaria had to "continue to work on strengthening its borders."

Reacting to the announcement, Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said he was expecting "positive news" to come out of the Netherlands as early as next week when the Dutch parliament could decide to "lift the veto" on Sofia's Schengen bid.