Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

It is unprofitable for Europe to have Bulgaria and Romania outside Schengen: Finance Minsiter

Photo: Screenshot /Die Welt

Russian propaganda in Bulgaria suggests that Bulgarians are second-class EU citizens. With our entry into Schengen, this will change, says Bulgarian Finance Minister Assen Vassilev in an interview with Die Welt.

According to Vassilev, it is economically unprofitable for Central and Western Europe for Bulgaria and Romania to be outside the zone without border control. 

"Every day, 4,000 trucks cross the Bulgarian-Turkish border to Western Europe, but stay for days at the border with Romania. This makes the transported goods more expensive," Vassilev explains. 

The minister also told Die Welt that the additional fee of 20% imposed on the Russian gas transit through Bulgaria will reduce the profit of Gazprom and make the supply more expensive, which in turn makes the import of Russian gas unprofitable for countries such as Austria and Hungary .



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

New Foreign Bulgarian Studies Collection will be presented in Sofia

On November 18 at 5:30 p.m., the collection "New Foreign Bulgarian Studies" will be presented in the National Library "Sts. Cyril and Methodius" in Sofia. It was published within the framework of the National Scientific Program "Development and..

published on 11/18/25 6:15 AM

Warm and rainy across much of Bugaria

On Tuesday, overnight lows will range from 7°C to 12°C, rising to 12–16°C in eastern Bulgaria and around 9°C in Sofia. It will be a cloudy day with rain, mainly in the north and west of the country, which will continue into the night towards Wednesday...

published on 11/17/25 7:05 PM
Photo: National Seismological Center at the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography - BAS

3.5-magnitute earthquake in the region of Blagoevgrad

According to data from the National Seismological Center at the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography - BAS, at 16:48 an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.5 was recorded in the area of ​​the town of Simitli, near Blagoevgrad. The..

published on 11/17/25 6:00 PM