Bulgarian Interior Minister: Bulgaria will meet Schengen criteria by March 2011

Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said on Sunday (October 3rd) that Bulgaria will meet the criteria to enter the Schengen zone by March 31st 2011. He made this statement upon receiving a report by the Open Society NGO. The document praised the pace of implementing the measures necessary for Bulgaria to enter the EU visa-free zone. A total of “43 out of the 48 measures have been finalised, some quicker than planned,” the report stated. Tsvetanov said that Bulgaria and Romania should become part of Schengen together in 2011.