Isn't Bulgaria due to join the Schengen area pretty soon? Inside the next couple of years, at least?
It should have been included together with Romania a couple years ago.
The problem is that both countries are still considered too corrupt for inclusion into the Schengen treaty. Romania seems to have cleaned up their act better then Bulgaria, but there are still grave doubts that the countries behave according to the treaty and don't, for example, sell visas to people, who are not eligible for them.
To the best of my knowledge, both countries are still on an waiting list, but given the current anti immigrant sentiments in most of central Europe this could take a few more years minimum.
Note that I'm not singling out the countries as crooked I'm just stating facts. Organized crime, for example, is still a huge problem in Bulgaria and corruption is still a huge problem in both countries. [1]
The problem is that both countries are still considered too corrupt for inclusion into the Schengen treaty. Romania seems to have cleaned up their act better then Bulgaria, but there are still grave doubts that the countries behave according to the treaty and don't, for example, sell visas to people, who are not eligible for them.
To the best of my knowledge, both countries are still on an waiting list, but given the current anti immigrant sentiments in most of central Europe this could take a few more years minimum.
Note that I'm not singling out the countries as crooked I'm just stating facts. Organized crime, for example, is still a huge problem in Bulgaria and corruption is still a huge problem in both countries. [1]
[1] http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results