Romania, Bulgaria, closer to Schengen

romania, bulgaria, closer to schengen As of July, Romania and Bulgaria will have limited access to the Schengen digital system

A priority of the Romanian diplomacy, Romania's Schengen accession, originally scheduled for March 2011, is still a goal being pursued, in spite of the fact that, as president Klaus Iohannis recently pointed out, the country has met the accession criteria for over 10 years and is a model of security provision in the EU.


The Romanian official also mentioned that the Schengen accession remains a major political objective and is part of the commitment Romania made under the EU Accession Treaty. We hope our efforts will be acknowledged soon and that a solution to wrap up this process will be found in due time, the head of state also said.


Romania's accession has been repeatedly postponed, over the opposition of some Member States, particularly the Netherlands, which put forth reasons related to the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.


The fact that Romania, alongside Bulgaria and, as of recently, Croatia as well, have met the requirements, has been acknowledged at EU level. Early this month, the European Commission presented a strategy for strengthening the Schengen area's external borders and for avoiding the checks introduced by several countries in the area since 2015 and reinforced by the coronavirus pandemic. The Commission urged the Council to green light "as soon as possible" the 3 countries' Schengen entry.


The European Commissioner for home affairs, Ylva Johansson, argued that Schengen accession is an obligation for all the EU member states that fulfil the requirements, and said the 3 countries currently meet these requirements. We expect the Council to make this decision soon, so that Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia may become full members, the EU official added.


For the time being, under a decision adopted on Friday by the European Commission, Romania and Bulgaria will have limited access to the Schengen digital system as of 1 July. They will be able to read visa information in the database that connects the border police forces on the EU's external borders with the consular offices of member countries, but will not be able to introduce data in the system.


Still, the authorities in the 2 states will be able to check the records of a visa applicant and the validity of Schengen visas issued by other Member States. The decision was made after both countries successfully completed a number of technical tests required for achieving connection with the system. 


Full access to the Schengen databases will be possible once Bulgaria and Romania have been fully integrated in the visa-free area, the Commission said. (tr. A.M. Popescu)


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Publicat: 2021-06-22 13:50:00
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