Spain supports Romania’s Schengen accession
Romania hopes to finally succeed in joining Schengen with Spain's taking over EU rotating presidency.
Mihai Pelin, 03.07.2023, 14:00
On 1st July, Spain, a country with a sizeable Romanian community, took over the rotating EU presidency of the European Union Council. Its priorities include finalising the talks for Romania and Bulgaria to be able to join the Schengen area. In the last one year and a half, the Spanish government has strongly supported Romanias bid to enter Schengen, with political and social relations between Madrid and Bucharest at their highest level.
Madrid supports Romanias accession to the Schengen area and has been acting for this goal to be achieved for many years, said Spains ambassador to Bucharest José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano. We believe the time has come for this to happen and are working together with all stakeholders, the commissioner for internal affairs, the Romanian authorities and other partners to reach a consensus on the accession dossier. Romania and Bulgaria must belong to the Schengen area as a security guarantee for the European Union itself, the Spanish diplomat also pointed out. A few days ago, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis said Romanias accession to the free-movement area is the subject of informal talks at many levels, and Spain has often demonstrated its readiness to put this subject on the agenda of the presidency of the EU Council. Iohannis said progress is slow, but it exists.
On 26th June, the Petitions Commission of the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging the European Council to give the green light to Romanias and Bulgarias accession to the Schengen area by the end of the year, emphasising that the two states meet the accession criteria and rejecting them has fostered anti-European sentiments and caused losses to the economy and the environment. The fact that Romania and Bulgaria are still not part of Schengen is a societal and economic obstacle for the businesses and peoples of the two states, Euro MPs also argued, adding that a larger Schengen area with no border checks would make the European Union stronger. The members of the Commission regret the Councils decision on 8th December last year to deny the two countries accession without presenting any legal justification related to the accession criteria.
We recall that at that meeting, Romania and Bulgaria did not gather enough votes to be able to enter Schengen because of opposition from Austria and The Netherlands. Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer said the decision had to do with the illegal migrants entering his country, saying many come via Romania and Bulgaria, something the Romanian authorities have denied. The Netherlands said it supported Romanias entry, but not together with Bulgaria. To date, Austria has given no indication that it has changed its position. (CM)
