EPP – support for full Schengen accession
On the first day of the Congress in Bucharest, the European People’s Party adopted an electoral manifesto asking that Romania and Bulgaria fully join the Schengen area.
Roxana Vasile, 07.03.2024, 13:50
The European People’s Party unanimously adopted, on Wednesday, on the first day of its Congress in Bucharest, an electoral manifesto in which it demands that Romania and Bulgaria fully join the Schengen area. The document was approved by the more than 2 thousand participants in the Congress. In other words, the manifesto surprisingly also received the vote of the representatives of the People’s Party from Austria, a country whose chancellor, Karl Nehammer, from the same political family, has, until now, vehemently opposed this perspective, despite the fact that Romanians and Bulgarians have been, for many years, technically prepared to fully enter the free travel area and despite the repeated appeals from EU officials at the highest level.
In fact, in Bucharest, the president of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, reiterated, on Wednesday, that Romania and Bulgaria meet all the criteria, not forgetting to mention, however, the challenge from Vienna. He said that he also wanted to ask the socialists in Austria to reconsider their position, because they are also against Romania and Bulgaria having full access to Schengen, so there is an Austrian challenge and they have to convince all the parties there to give the green light, said Manfred Weber.
Romanians who live and work abroad are waiting for Romania to enter Schengen with land borders as well, said the president of the National Liberal Party – PNL, in the governing coalition in Romania, Nicolae Ciucă.
And the leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania – UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, stated that postponing Romania’s full accession will harm Europe: “The political tango around accession to the Schengen area can neither be assumed nor continued. We must say this loud and clear here as well, in our political family. We can and we will protect the external borders of the Union. We are prepared to do so. All sorts of excuses and pretexts can be invented to delay full accession to the Schengen area, but this will do enormous damage in the short term. I’m asking all those who had reservations about Romania’s accession to the Schengen area to put our common interests in the medium and long term first, not the immediate political gain.”
Last December, the Council of the European Union voted for the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen, with controls at air and sea borders being lifted from March 2024. In order to accept their full accession to the free travel area, with controls lifted also at land borders, which is the most important component actually, Vienna set conditions. Will these conditions fade away in front of the need to obtain a good score in the June election for the European Parliament or, on the contrary, will they be strengthened? (LS)
