Visa policy of the Schengen Area

The European Commission warned on Wednesday that programs of some EU states to sell passports and visas to wealthy foreigners could help organized crime groups infiltrate the bloc and raise the risk of money laundering, corruption and tax evasion.

At an official ceremony in Bucharest on occasion of the start of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani voiced hopes that Bulgaria and Romania would join the Schengen Area during the Romanian EU Presidency, reported the Bulgarian National Radio. 

An EU official on Nov. 28 said that Turkey is close to completing all criteria for visa-free travel of citizens.

Turkey and the European Union Commission will launch talks on Nov. 30 for an agreement between Ankara and the European Police Service (Europol) which is one of the benchmarks for visa free travel for Turkish nationals.

As Pristina-based media reports, 30 members of the Committee voted in favour of the recommendation, 10 were against and two members abstained from voting.

Minister-delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu hails the coming into force as of August 1 of the (EU) Resolution 934/2018 of the Council regarding the implementation of the remaining provisions of the Schenghen acquis concerning the Schengen Information System in Bulgaria and Romania, informs a release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) on Wednesday sent to AGERPRES.

The Bulgarian authorities are stopping access to people on the territory of the country if they were banned from entering the Schengen area from 1 August, the Ministry of Interior announced on Friday.

The Netherlands and France hinder Bulgaria's entry into the Schengen zone, Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia, quoted by the Bulgarian National Radio.

The European Commission expressed satisfaction at the reviving of visa liberalization dialogue with Turkey, a Foreign Ministry official said on June 1, as a delegation from the Commission held talks in Ankara for resuming visa liberalization dialogue.

The price of this travel authorization will be seven euros.

Beta agency said it received confirmation that "although they do not need visas, citizens will have to pay a seven-euro fee within the framework of measures that should come into force in 2021, which are introduced due to the need for more stringent oversight of the EU's external borders."