Bulgaria had to make efforts in the justice and home affairs sector reforms and the fight against organised crime and corruption, European enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said.

Rehn is on a two-day visit to Bulgaria. He made the statement after a meeting with Bulgaria's Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev.

Rehn said he wanted Bulgaria to enter the EU on January 1 2007, but his duty was to find ways and means to protect the European community.

The reforms, especially in justice and in public order, had to continue after Bulgaria's EU entry, he said.

The European Commission is preparing its final monitoring report on Bulgaria's reform progress that will be presented on September 26 2006.

Preliminary analyses showed Bulgaria had made progress in some of the fields, Rehn said.