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Political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu declared, on Thursday, that the vote given in the Council of Justice and Home Affairs against Romania's accession to the Schengen Area, based on the issue of migration, will complicate the "situations" in the country, where there was "a great expectation", so there will be "a big disappointment", the political scientist Cristian Pirvulescu declared, on Thursday, for AGERPRES.
"I think that the real reasons are those that Austria told, those related to the issue of migration. That the issue of migration was put on the European agenda, that is another discussion. But the reason why they (Austria, ed. n.) preferred to make their internal image to make them seem like heroes of the fight against illegal immigration was this, the problem of the Schengen Area, which is viewed by many Austrians, as well as by many Europeans, as a vulnerability. Because the Schengen Area allows free movement of the crowds," Pirvulescu said.
"It is a short-term interest. It is very likely that there were also Russian interests, yet never direct, but indirect, and, in the end, Austria's decision was linked to the issue of migration and it could not have yielded. The calculation that the Romanians made, that the Austrians would give in to pressure, it turned out to be uninspired, and those who promised support for Romania could not do it in extremis and could not sanction Croatia for this reason," the analyst said.
Asked what Romania has to do next, Cristian Pirvulescu said that "the Swedes, who will take over the Presidency from January 1, will take over the file and try to complete it".
He said that the Thursday vote "will greatly complicate the situations in the country, where there was a great expectation, so there will be a great disappointment, with consequences related to anti-European feelings, extremist tendencies, etc."
"I don't know if this was the calculation that Austria made, but, for sure, it is the calculation that Russia made when, through intermediaries, it suggested this electoral tactics to the Austrian People's Party, whose relations with Russia are notorious," Cristian Pîrvulescu also said.
