The President of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), Kelemen Hunor, declared on Tuesday that he does not support the decoupling of Romania from Bulgaria in the process of accession to the Schengen area.
"I don't support decoupling from Bulgaria. You have to keep your friends and you have to go on a path together, unless something very, very extravagant happens. But if we were to try decoupling from Bulgaria now, we would send a bad message. After that no one trusts you anymore. Plus, technically, it's an issue, because you should move the Schengen border to the Danube, which, from a technical point of view, means a delay" , Kelemen Hunor told Prima News.
He added that he hopes that Romania will enter the Schengen area this year, Agerpres informs.
"It's hard to say [if our country enters the Schengen area in 2023], I hope so. But it's hard to give a deadline. If we don't enter in 2023, then we don't have to deal with this subject until 2025 , because the elections are coming and the committee that is leaving will no longer be in charge, the committee that will come after the European Parliament elections will sit somewhere in September - October 2024. Until things settle down to a normal course, the year 2024 will pass. I want I think that if we can't close it under the Swedish presidency, it can be closed under the Spanish presidency. The Austrians also need a little time. They have elections now in January-February in Lower Austria and after that things will settle down a bit politically ", mentioned Kelemen Hunor.