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ForMin Odobescu: Dialogue with Austria to continue on Romania and Bulgaria acquiring full Schengen membership
Foreign Affairs Minister Luminita Odobescu declared on Monday that dialogue with Austria continues on Romania and Bulgaria acquiring full Schengen membership, the focal interest being the best possible protection of the EU's external borders.
Together with the Belgian ambassador in Bucharest John Cornet d'Elzius and the head of the European Commission's Representation in Romania Ramona Chiriac, the Romanian top diplomat participated in the launching conference of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Odobescu said that, in addition to the accomplishment this spring of the air and sea Schengen, "we still have another important step: lifting land border controls."
"Our efforts, which are in tight correlation with those of the Ministry of the Interior, will continue. In the first place, we will continue dialogue with Austria. From the moment Austria decided to partially lift its veto, we clearly knew this was the utmost possible for now. But this doesn't mean that we will not continue dialogue with Austria in order to identify a solution to lift land border controls as well. We have an addendum to the decision to implement the Schengen acquis, specifically Romania, Austria and Bulgaria's declaration laying out a series of measures to strengthen cooperation among the three countries," Odobescu said.
She also pointed out that a series of "ad hoc checks will be conducted together with the Austrian partners, but with other states as well."
"I think that, in the end, in this complicated international context where we are faced with terrorist phenomena, with high migration, our interest is to protect the external borders as best as possible," the foreign minister said.
She went on to remark that the Spanish Council Presidency worked until the last day of 2023 towards Romania and Bulgaria's air and sea Schengen entry, and that this will happen starting on March 31st.
Head of the European Commission's Representation in Bucharest Ramona Chiriac also mentioned these efforts, saying that she is sure that "the Romanians will remember the Spanish Presidency as a facilitator of Romania's Schengen membership," reiterating also the message of the Community Executive that "Romania and Bulgaria fully meet the Schengen accession requirements."
Belgian ambassador John Cornet d'Elzius referenced the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council from 2019.
"I hope that the Belgian Presidency will be as efficient as the Romanian one, which managed to close over 100 legislative files," he pointed out.
Also, the Belgian diplomat explained that "both Romania and Belgium want a strong Europe, one that cooperates with its partners for peace and for international rule-based order," and reaffirmed Belgium's support for Romania and Bulgaria's full Schengen membership.
