Premium
Steps for full integration of Romania in Schengen will continue this year, says minister Predoiu
The steps for Romania's full integration into the Schengen area will continue this year, the key to success being the continuation of achieving results in the fight against illegal migration and border protection, argued Thursday, in Brussels, the minister of Internal Affairs Catalin Predoiu, before the informal meeting of the ministers of interior from the European Union.
"Regarding the Schengen file, last year brought, at the end of December, a Council decision (accession to Schengen with air and sea borders from March 31, 2024, ed.n) on which a lot of work was done in beforehand, by several institutions, obviously the Ministry of the Interior being the spearhead of this effort, but I want to emphasize that it was a collective effort of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Government, and the Presidency and other institutions that contributed to this result. I know that this is not the end of this process, we will continue it this year as well, the key to success being the application in very good conditions of the Council's decision last year, that is, to continue to obtain results in the line of combating illegal migration and protecting the border," Interior minister Catalin Predoiu declared for AGERPRES, before the meeting organized at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, on Thursday, by the Belgian presidency of the EU Council.
According to him, an important role will be played by "police cooperation and cooperation, a very good dialogue with the Austrian authorities, with the Austrian interior minister, the Bulgarian interior minister and the European Commission", and the EU Council presidency will also be involved.
"Migration and the fight against drug trafficking are serious challenges for all the member countries of the European Union and success in addressing these challenges can be achieved through integrated cooperation between member states, and in each member state through cooperation among institutions with attributions in combating migration and drug trafficking," said Predoiu.
