Oprea and Bachvarova meet, discuss accession to Schengen Area, police cooperation

Romania and Bulgaria's accession to the border-free Schengen Area, regional and bilateral police cooperation as well as cooperation inside European organisations, joint operative missions in the areas of border security, migrations and asylum, corruption, were the main topics of discussion at a meeting on Friday in Craiova, of Romania's Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea and his Bulgarian counterpart Rumina Bachvarova.

Photo credit: (c) Alex MICSIK / AGERPRES PHOTO

"Discussed at the meeting were topics of common interest related to the accession of the two countries to the Schengen Area, bilateral, regional police cooperation as well as cooperation inside European organisations. An agreement was reached over the continuation of a working mechanism already successfully implemented to deploy Romanian police officers to Bulgaria's seaside and mountain resorts for a joint management of events that might involve Romanian nationals. At the same time, discussions focused on joint operative missions conducted in areas such as border security, migration and asylum, the fight against corruption, emergency assistance with emphasis on the excellent operational outcomes," Romania's Interior Ministry (MAI) reported on Friday in a press release.

The two ministers met as part of a joint meeting of the national governments of Romania and Bulgaria going on in Craiova, southern Romania.

According to MAI, the two ministers will sign at the end of the joint meeting a protocol between the interior ministries of Romania and Bulgaria on cooperation in radio communications, a technical document that will regulate the procedures and methods for radio communications between the two ministries for bilateral police cooperation in emergency cases.

Oprea is...