Bulgarian President snipes at FM over Schengen stance
Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov has criticised Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov's handling of the Schengen issue after Mladenov said that the country would carefully reconsider its support for proposed reforms to the Schengen system if EU interior ministers, at a meeting scheduled for September 22, do not admit Bulgaria to the EU visa zone.Mladenov's comments on September 17 were in reaction to the Netherlands saying that it would veto Bulgaria's admission to Schengen.Speaking on September 19, Purvanov said that he had really wanted the Foreign Ministry in the past two years to take such a firm stance, but the ministry had been "absent" in defending Bulgaria's interests in the Schengen issue."Now a firm voice sounds a little inappropriate and I am not sure that this is the right tone," Purvanov said. (Source: The Sofia Echo)