Bulgaria has been forced to remove the tax imposed on the transit of Russian gas to Hungary and Serbia, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán threatened to veto the country’s entry into Schengen. This was what Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said upon entering the meeting of the European leaders, as quoted by BNR correspondent in Brussels Angelina Piskova.

"Hungary has sent a message that if the fee is not removed, they will veto our Schengen membership. We decided that there is no need to risk at this time with important, but still not decisive steps in terms of Schengen," Denkov said. According to him, negotiations for Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen continue. The Prime Minister added that there were no talks about separating Bulgaria and Romania on the path to Schengen membership.

• Bulgaria will use the European Commission as mediator in Schengen negotiations