Law enforcement in Europe

A year and a half after taking office, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made his first bilateral visit to Austria.

"The murder of Aleksei Petrov should not be confused with the admission of Bulgaria to Schengen, which has its own trajectory and clear rules" - this is how the spokeswoman of the European Commission, Anitta Hipper, answered a question about how this case will affect the accession of Bulgaria to the area of free movement.

Germany has emerged as the leader in rejecting Schengen visa applications from Turkish citizens in 2022.

Turkish citizens faced substantial hurdles in obtaining Schengen visas, with a high number of applications being denied by German authorities.

The results that Bulgaria has achieved in fulfilling the requirements for entering the Schengen area will be checked in September by a foreign mission with the participation of representatives of the Netherlands and Austria - the two countries that are still against the admission of Bulgaria into the space without border checks.

Having a caretaker government in the Netherlands until the end of the year means that it is unlikely to sign Bulgaria's entry into Schengen, which requires unanimity among member states.

This is what "Politico" writes in an article dedicated to the political crisis in the Netherlands.

The Turkish and Italian narcotics teams have seized a record 5.3 tons of drugs in a joint operation on a Palau-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Sicily.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has voiced its concerns regarding the alleged "systemic obstacles" faced by journalists in Türkiye when applying for visas to Schengen countries, calling for an end to "discriminatory practices."

"The accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen in October 2023 remains a realistic possibility", said Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, who is on a visit to Bucharest and met his Romanian counterpart Marcel Kolaja.

Members of the European Parliament called on the Council (the member states) to approve the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area by the end of 2023, reported the institution's press service.

Today, the European Parliament will vote on a resolution for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area. Against this background, the Romanian MEP from the European People's Party, Eugene Tomac, requested that the European Parliament file a case against the European Council before the Court of Justice of the EU for not allowing Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen.