Romania gets support messages for its Schengen accession

Following talks in the European Council, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis has voiced optimism that the countrys Schengen accession process will successfully complete in 2023

Corina Cristea, 16.12.2022, 14:00

A week after
Romania and Bulgaria’s entry into Schengen was rejected in the Justice and Home
Affairs Council (JHA), the accession issue has again been brought up for discussion in Brussels, this time during the
proceedings of the European Council upon the initiative of Romania’s president
Klaus Iohannis. The head of the Romanian state talked about the need for a
positive solution concerning accession, about the fact that Romania is ready
from all points of view to become part of Europe’s border-free area, but also
about unity and solidarity.

Romania is a frontline
country when it comes to the situation caused by the war in Ukraine. We are the
neighbours with the longest border with Ukraine. We have been striving and
coping with this situation, because that’s what we want and because we believe
this is the right thing to do. We are a frontline country when it comes to
migration and we control the migration inflow. We have obtained very good
results, acknowledged by objective foreign sources, Klaus Iohannis said
adding:

We Romanians are waiting
for clear signs of solidarity and unity from the EU. And that means that among
other things we have legitimate expectations to be admitted into Schengen.

The Romanian president
said that Austria’s veto and the mixed vote by the Netherlands are issues that
must be solved, but from all talks that he held he concluded that this time,
preparations would go deeper and a solution is wanted.

Klaus Iohannis: My conclusion is simple: all players have
understood that here we have an issue that must be solved. My impression is
that everybody understood and I am pretty optimistic the best alternative is
that the accession process be completed in 2023 with a positive result for
Romania and Bulgaria.

The highest
European officials have conveyed support messages for the accession of the two
countries which are together in this process and have been waiting for more
than a decade for this accession. The
head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the
Council, Charles Michel, have said that opinion exchanges on this issue are
going to continue and headway is expected in the following months. Romania and
Bulgaria’s accession is fully supported, Ursula von der Leyen says while
Charles Michel has confirmed the EU leaders will participate in a special
summit on migration in February. Austria motivated its veto also on the issue
of migration. Charles Michel has mentioned the political debates on Bulgaria
and Romania’s accession to Europe’s passport-free area and voiced optimism that
a decision in this respect could be made in 2023. The EU official has also
mentioned the feeling he had of a political commitment to making headway and
his hopes that this is going to take place next year. Roberta Metsola,
president of the European Parliament has voiced disappointment for the
rejection of the two states and Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has thanked
for the strong vocal support in the European Parliament and the landslide
support of the member states.

(bill)