Parliament in the Netherlands has voted in favour of Bulgaria being admitted to the Schengen visa zone, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) said on December 22, a week after the Dutch government recommended the move.

A proposal tabled by the New Sociaal Contract group to endorse the stance previously announced by Austria, to admit only Bulgaria’s airports for now and its land and sea borders at some point later, failed to win the required number of votes – 76 – to be approved, though the vote was 59 in favour and 49 against.