With an appeal to the ambassadors of The Netherlands and Austria in Bulgaria, organizations of the Jewish communities in our country addressed with an open letter.

The letter, which was also sent to BTA, was signed by Prof. Alexander Oskar from the Organization of Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom”, Maxim Delchev from the Central Israeli Spiritual Council, Victor Melamed – Office of the American Jewish Committee in Sofia, and by Nikolay Galabov from the Federation of the Zionists in Bulgaria. It calls on the Netherlands and Austria to reconsider their positions on imposing a veto on Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen. A copy of the letter was also sent to the service of Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov.

We, the organizations representing Bulgarian Jews, are surprised that Austria and the Kingdom of the Netherlands are blocking Bulgaria’s accession, despite the fact that the lower parliament, as well as the majority of the lower union countries, voted for Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area, the letter says.

We consider it our duty to call on your governments to reconsider their positions on the decision, familiar with the accession of Bulgaria to the countries of the Schengen area, include the representatives of the Jewish community in Bulgaria.

We believe that a United Europe rests on the principles of mutual cooperation, solidarity and mutual support. Only in this way can the security and future of the citizens of the lower union be best guaranteed, write the authors of the letter.

Today, the eyes of the Bulgarian people turn to Brussels. For us, the Bulgarian Jews, it is extremely important that Bulgaria be an equal member of the Euro-Atlantic family. We are aware of the importance of protecting the European borders and we are sure that the Bulgarian state will make all necessary efforts to protect them in order to guarantee the security, well-being and well-being of the citizens of the lower union. At this time, we are deeply concerned that postponing our country’s accession to the Schengen Free Area will further fuel the already growing Euroscepticism and national chauvinism, the position added.

Calls for the Netherlands and Austria to review their positions sent in recent days by numerous political representatives, economic organizations, trade unions. According to the caretaker government, the non-admission of Bulgaria to Schengen is unfair because our country has fulfilled all the criteria for membership.