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MEP Negrescu asks EP President Metsola to back up Romania's accession to Schengen area
European Parliament Quaestor of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament MEP Victor Negrescu has asked President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola to back up Romania's accession to the Schengen area ahead of a Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting, including challenging with the Court of Justice of the EU a possible new veto by Austria, reads a press statement released on Thursday by his MEP's office, told Agerpres.
"The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, is a supporter of Romania's accession to the Schengen area. That is why we discussed the prospects of the future Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting, which will take place in a few weeks' time, and the state of the high-level negotiations, including at the level of the right-wing political family of which the Austrian chancellor is a part," Negrescu is quoted as saying in the statement.
He added that he wanted to thank Metsola for her efforts and at the same time "to discuss the options that Romania can have in the event of a new veto by the right-wing government in Austria."
"I have requested support so that the European Parliament may back up Romania in the event of a new refusal in carrying out a legitimate approach for the defence of European values through which we can demand our rights even at the Court of Justice of the EU."
Negrescu advocated for Romania's accession to the Schengen area also during a debate attended by the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Nikolay Denkov, in the EP plenary meeting in Strasbourg.
"Romania and Bulgaria deserve to be accepted in the Schengen area and that must happen unconditionally and immediately. It is unacceptable that our countries are left out, given that we are meeting all the Schengen criteria and have effectively protected the European borders for so many years," Negrescu is quoted as having told the plenary sitting of the EP on Wednesday.
"Romania and Bulgaria are not second-class member states, and people should stop looking at us that way. That's why I am calling on the EU leaders to support our accession to the Schengen area until the end, by holding a vote by the end of the year, to demonstrate that compliance with the rules in the EU pays off."
