PP-DB: Land Schengen may be delayed over a public procurement procedure

Bulgaria may lose 63 million euros of European funds allocated for the purchase of technical equipment for border control, necessary for the country’s full membership in the Schengen area. This is what MP from PP-DB Martin Dimitrov warned about.

According to him, the caretaker government of Dimitar Glavchev scored a "ridiculous own goal" for Bulgaria. "Because of Schengen, Bulgaria had to purchase special scanners and x-rays for better border control. There was a requirement for holding a public procurement procedure. However, the public procurement is terminated and a specific company is chosen on the grounds that since it was an intelligence activity, there was an opportunity to do it in this way. A huge mistake, because all those who do not want Bulgaria's land borders in Schengen now have a formal reason to request a postponement," Dimitrov commented.

"The fact that Bulgaria canceled a public order and switched to direct and secret negotiations with an unknown company is already being heard in Brussels and is causing serious tension," MEP Radan Kanev said.