Bulgaria and Romania have both reacted positively to the Commission's 16 May monitoring report. Meanwhile, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in Bucharest that “we’d like the two countries to join the EU simultaneously, but each of them is individual and will be analysed separately on the bases of their own achievements."
Describing the Commission's 16 May monitoring report as "fair and objective," Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said that "this is the highest assessment that Romania has ever received from the European Commission." He said that Bucharest will not fail in stepping up efforts conducive to the country's scheduled accession to the EU in January 2007.
According to Tariceanu, “we are determined to maintain the momentum and continue to fight corruption. The 2008 alternative is not being considered by Romanian authorities.”
Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said that the Commission's report was "encouraging and an incentive to double our efforts. The conclusions give us confidence that the direction and speed of reforms are right."
The country's Foreign Minister, Ivailo Kalfin, said that the report was "well balanced." Interior Minister Rumen Petkov said that the report provided a "serious stimulus" for Bulgaria to redouble its efforts.
"There are 227 days left, we can make it," declared Bulgaria's EU Affairs Minister Meglena Kuneva in reaction to the Commission's report. She described the report as "correct" and "very supportive."
Meanwhile, another hurdle for both countries is the ratification of their accession treaty by all EU member states. France, Germany and others have yet to do so.
