European institutions are preparing to admit Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen this year, first with air borders in October, followed by the abolition of land border controls by January 1, according to Euractiv.ro sources.

According to sources in Sofia, Bulgaria has a serious chance, if it exerts diplomatic pressure and shows a willingness to continue reforms, of achieving Schengen membership as early as October this year with air borders and the prospect of full membership with land borders in January 2024.

Until a month ago, the biggest obstacle to Bulgaria’s Schengen entry was opposition from the Netherlands.

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Mark Rutte’s government has given informal signals that it appreciates the efforts of the Bulgarian parliament and the last four governments to initiate real judicial reform by introducing an independent mechanism for investigating the chief prosecutor, which was adopted at the end of May.

Former Bulgarian chief prosecutor Ivan Gheșev, who did not have a particularly good reputation in Brussels, became the first casualty of the new legislation after he was dismissed last week. A further clean-up of the judiciary is expected.

The second major reason for removing obstacles to Bulgaria’s Schengen entry is the election of a government in Sofia after a prolonged political crisis during which President Rumen Radev appointed an interim government.

The government is made up of ministers from the Continuing Change-Democratic Bulgaria coalition, backed by GERB, represented by deputy prime minister Mariya Gabriel.

Among other things, the new government has declared its intention to review Radev’s policy towards Ukraine and has decided that the country will be represented at the upcoming NATO summit by Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov rather than the president.

According to sources, the country’s European partners hope that the big common goals, including the goals of Schengen and Eurozone membership, will keep the coalition together.

In July, the European Commission will publish a report under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism at the insistence of the Netherlands. The report is expected to be broadly positive, recognising the political will to continue reforms.

Austria’s objections to Schengen enlargement amid the refugee crisis have not diminished, but Vienna is expected to stop using its veto if isolated.

Last December, Austria and the Netherlands blocked Bulgaria’s Schengen accession, while only Austria opposed Romania’s.

Read full story on Euractiv.ro