Romania’s Interior Minister, in Brussels

Romania has presented in Brussels home affairs priorities during its presidency of the EU Council

Bogdan Matei, 07.12.2018, 12:54

Migration, border management and strengthening the security of the
Union are the home affairs priorities Romania has set for its presidency of the
Council of the European Union, between January 1 and June 30, 2019. The
interior minister Carmen Dan went to Brussels to present them on Thursday, at
the last meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council under Austrian
presidency.

The visit was preceded on Wednesday by a joint meeting of Viorica
Dancila’s Cabinet and the European Commission, whose president Jean-Claude
Juncker voiced his confidence that Romania is able to hold the rotating
presidency successfully.

According to a news release issued by the Interior Ministry, a
central element in the field of migration and border management is the
strengthening of the European border agency, Frontex, by means of enhanced
personnel and logistical capabilities provided by the member states. Other
aspects on which the Romanian Interior Ministry will focus include fighting
online content that promotes terrorism and developing the concept of Community
Policing across the EU.

Community Policing is an initiative of the Romanian Interior
Ministry designed to facilitate relations between police and expat communities
in EU member countries. According to the news release, Romania has considerable
experience in the field, and is already conducting missions in countries like
Italy, Spain, France and Bulgaria. Such operations have been quite successful
in terms of preventing and fighting offences with Romanian victims or
perpetrators living in the respective states.

On the sidelines of the JHA Council, Minister Dan also had bilateral
meetings with her counterparts from Bulgaria, Germany and the UK. Key topics
included the rights of the Romanian citizens in Britain and of the British
citizens living in Romania after Brexit, which is scheduled to take effect
during Bucharest’s presidency of the EU Council. In turn, Romania and Bulgaria
undertook to work together on sensitive issues such as migration. The two
interior ministers also agreed to deploy Romanian police forces this month on a
new mission in Bulgarian resorts, where many Romanian tourists are expected to
spend their winter holidays.

The next informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council is
due to take place in Bucharest on February 6-8, 2019. In the first 6 months of
next year, Romania is also set to host tens of other high-level events in the
field of home affairs, including the EU – US Justice and Home Affairs
Ministerial Meeting.