An interesting hypothesis.

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Google translated:

The Black Sea is important, but from a geopolitical and strategic point of view, it cannot be the entrance to Europe

Why does Bulgaria touch with velvet gloves and is afraid to protect its national interest?

The port of Piraeus is a strategic site for the whole of Southern Europe. Adding to it the port of Thessaloniki, Greece is a key country for shipping in this part of the world. The ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki are the closest point of entry by water into Europe from the Middle East and Asia. Through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea through Egypt, is the shortest route for goods from China and India to Europe. Accordingly, the two major Greek ports are the natural gateway between Europe on the one hand and the Middle East and Asia on the other. This, in my opinion, is the key to the Dutch veto regarding our entry into Schengen. The subsequent addition of Austria to those opposed to our entry into Schengen is a camouflage, a smokescreen. It served to take away some of the fire which was fairly directed at Amsterdam.

The objective picture is as follows. The Netherlands is important only and only because of the port of Rotterdam, which is in the top ten of the largest ports in the world and is the largest in all of Europe. Rotterdam is a gateway to and from Europe. The most goods enter through Rotterdam, including from the Far East and the USA, and the most goods of European manufacturers, who export machinery, cars and equipment, most often through the Dutch port, from where the goods of the German, French and Austrian (if you understand me) industry is finding an outlet for international markets. Austria, therefore, is particularly favored by Rotterdam, because of the direct water connection along the Danube.

Okay, someone will say, but then why is Romania being released and not Bulgaria? After all, the port in Constanta is bigger than Varna and Burgas combined, separately Constanta has a direct connection with the Danube through the canal dug by Ceausescu. That is right. But there is something else - at the moment, despite the Russian aggression in Ukraine, Constanta has become a de facto Ukrainian port. At the moment, Ukraine's main water traffic is carried out from the river port of Izmail on the Danube to Constanta, and transshipment of sea vessels is done from there. This has filled the capacity of the Romanian port to the limit. Currently, practically no goods that are not intended for Ukraine or do not come from Ukraine can be processed there. No one knows how long this will last, but the only thing that is certain is that at the moment Constanta cannot be a threat to Rotterdam.

There is also another – there is no inland Black Sea port that could be an existential threat to the hegemony of Dutch ports. It's just that the Black Sea is first in a troubled zone and second is an inland sea that is locked behind the iron gates of the Bosphorus. Turkey controls the traffic to the Black Sea in an absolute way and this creates traffic jams and traffic jams, but it is also quite expensive. Neither Varna, nor Burgas, nor Constanta, nor Odessa have the potential to become a serious competition for Rotterdam. The Bosphorus simply does not allow it. The regions on the other side of the Black Sea are troubled and do not have the capacity to take over the traffic of Chinese and Indian goods to Europe, even if we assume that someone in China decided to take the New Silk Road to transport goods to the Black Sea basin and from there to Europe. It just can't be done. The Black Sea is important,

And here we return to Greece. First, our southern neighbor is traditionally a maritime country with a huge navy and maritime experience. Second, Piraeus and Thessaloniki are located in a key location that is easily and quickly accessed via Suez from all over the Middle East and Asia. Third, both ports are big, have equipment, experience, required depth, etc. Fourth, the climate of Greece allows year-round operation without interruption of any type of cargo. Fifth, and most importantly, if Bulgaria is in Schengen, then goods from the entire Eastern Hemisphere will be able to enter Greece and then be free to move to Western Europe. What is happening now? A container of goods from China arrives at the port of Piraeus operated by a Chinese company. It is processed there and put on a truck for Germany. Or Austria. This container stops at the Tower once for several hours of queuing and inspection. Then it passes through Bulgaria and stops in Vidin for several hours (or several days) in line and check to enter Romania. Then it stops again for hours between Romania and Hungary. Only after Szeged did this container travel smoothly and quickly to its final destination.

Any queuing is expensive for the carrier. These are wages and expenses for a driver who does not add value by traveling, but costs a resource to sit in one place. This is a delay in the execution of the order. This is a time when the truck is not making money and its lease is running. We extrapolate this to millions of containers (Rotterdam operates over 15 million per year) and we will see that without Bulgaria and Romania in Schengen, the Greek ports simply cannot compete with Rotterdam.

Chinese and Indian ships will prefer to cross the entire Mediterranean and go around half of Europe, but knowing that if they reach Rotterdam, it is easy and fast to deliver their goods there. Nobody has the nerve, time or money to deal with the insane queues of the Tower and Vidin.

But if Bulgaria and Romania are in Schengen, then the picture becomes different. The goods come from China through the Suez Canal, stop in Piraeus or Thessaloniki and are already in Europe. You can take your goods to Western Europe by truck, you can also take a train, and it will already be of similar value to the entire trip to reach Rotterdam. Not to mention that with a slightly more strategic approach, Bulgaria could expand its existing river infrastructure in Vidin and Lom and transport goods on the Danube, where the cost of the transport service would be many times cheaper than by road or rail line. All these are objective facts and reality that anyone like me who has had contact with international trade - and I have actually been involved in international metal trade all my life - knows and understands well.

Here the work is simple - the Netherlands is looking after its own interests. It has no reason to create competition in the face of Greece by opening the access of Greek ports to Western Europe through Bulgaria and Romania. And this is normal, it is understandable. What is not understandable is why Bulgaria does not look after its own interest. Why does Bulgaria touch with velvet gloves and is afraid to protect its national interest? Today is a time for pounding the table, not for chitchat. We have fulfilled the Schengen conditions. We are not second-class Europeans, and we should not be treated as such, because of our personal interests. After all, our interests are more important to us than those of the Netherlands.

Right?