Full Schengen accession, possible
At the end of this week, Romania will become part of the Schengen area with its air and sea borders. This is only the first step towards full Schengen integration, which could take place until the end of the year, according to the Romanian Home Affairs Minister Catalin Predoiu. Predoiu said that the Romanian side has already completed technical preparations for March 31, and that, in spite of the blockage imposed by Austria, the relationship with his Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner is very good: ”We are in permanent contact with the Austrian Ministry of Internal Affairs. I have personally had long discussions with Minister Karner this year, three times so far, the most recent of which was last week, in Vienna. The relationship is very good, we cooperate very well; border protection, combating illegal migration, combating cross-border crime. I proposed to Minister Karner that we expand our collaboration beyond Schengen and have a very solid international police cooperation platform with Austria. We are very interested in combating drug trafficking and human trafficking.”
Sorin Iordan, 25.03.2024, 14:00
At the end of this week, Romania will become part of the Schengen area with its air and sea borders. This is only the first step towards full Schengen integration, which could take place until the end of the year, according to the Romanian Home Affairs Minister Catalin Predoiu. Predoiu said that the Romanian side has already completed technical preparations for March 31, and that, in spite of the blockage imposed by Austria, the relationship with his Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner is very good: ”We are in permanent contact with the Austrian Ministry of Internal Affairs. I have personally had long discussions with Minister Karner this year, three times so far, the most recent of which was last week, in Vienna. The relationship is very good, we cooperate very well; border protection, combating illegal migration, combating cross-border crime. I proposed to Minister Karner that we expand our collaboration beyond Schengen and have a very solid international police cooperation platform with Austria. We are very interested in combating drug trafficking and human trafficking.”
After March 31, Romanians who want to travel by air to the Schengen area, that is 70% of those who use the plane to travel abroad, will no longer have to stop at the control filters in the 17 airports in Romania for document checks. However, the police will remain in the airport premises and will carry out random checks, said the head of the Border Police General Inspectorate, Cornel-Laurian Stoica. He explained that such checks will take place based on a risk analysis or reasonable suspicion. Cornel-Laurian Stoica: “In such a case, the police officer can take steps to establish the identity of the person and make checks in the operational databases. The policemen will be equipped with mobile control devices with which they will carry out these checks. If the suspicions are confirmed, the person’s trip will be interrupted and legal measures will be applied.”
According to the Commission and the European Parliament, Romania meets all the technical criteria for joining the Schengen Area, the only ones needed to receive the green light. Austria’s decision to still block access with the land borders, which are also the most congested, is considered a baseless political approach, given that the argument that Romania is on the route of illegal migration to Western Europe is invalidated by the numbers. However, maintaining Romania at the Schengen door has significant negative effects from an economic point of view. According to the Bucharest administration, the damage caused is at least 2% of the gross domestic product, and a former Romanian minister of the economy estimated that the country loses 10 billion euros per year. (EE)
