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Romania's accession to the Schengen area and the further development of the existing good economic relations between Romania and Austria were on Friday the topics of the meeting between the Chair of the Senate's Defense Committee, Nicoleta Pauliuc, and the Austrian ambassador in Bucharest, Adelheid Folie, the Romanian Senate informs in a release sent to AGERPRES.
Nicoleta Pauliuc emphasized the very good existing economic relations between the two states, especially the Austrian investments in Romania, highlighting in this context the relevance of Romania's accession to the Schengen area for their further strengthening. Considering the recent statements of some high-ranking Austrian officials, Pauliuc appealed to the representative in Bucharest of this country to convey the unitary message of the Romanian political class, also backed by a significant number of European decision-makers, such as that Romania's accession to the Schengen space is a very useful and necessary thing for the current and future architecture of the European Union, being beneficial to all the states of the Union and all the interested factors. The Romanian official reiterated the fact that a refusal, motivated exclusively politically in this sense, would strengthen the populist and ultranationalist trend, the Senate's release reads.
The Chair of the Defense Committee emphasized that, "as Romania understands to be attached to European values and strictly respects all the political and administrative commitments it has assumed, it is absolutely necessary that all pro-European and pro-democratic forces show support for Romania's accession to the Schengen area, this being also expected from our Austrian friends".
Pauliuc pleaded for "the policy of dialogue, the key to success, with an important role in developing and solving situations of this kind".
Hans Arzbacher, attaché for Internal Affairs at the Austrian Embassy, also participated in the meeting.AGERPRES
