Hungary ready to lift objection to Bulgaria’s Schengen entry

Hungary will lift its objection to Bulgaria joining Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone after the Bulgarian parliament formally confirms its scrapping of an extra tax on Russian gas shipments, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said.

“I was informed by my Bulgarian colleague that yesterday the Bulgarian parliament scrapped this law,” Szijjarto said in a video on his Facebook page.

He said that once the law was published on Friday as expected in the parliament’s legislative periodical, Hungary would drop its objection and ask the European Commission to halt an infringement procedure that Budapest had initiated.

Bulgaria introduced a new transit fee of about 10 euros per MWh of Russian gas in October this year, prompting strong criticism from Hungary, whose foreign minister called the action “hostile.”

Hungary’s foreign ministry had said over the weekend the country would veto Bulgaria’s entry into Schengen if the tax through Hungary’s main gas import route remained in place.

Of the 27 EU member states, 23 participate in the Schengen area, including Greece. [Reuters]