Romania may wait another month or two to join Schengen. Even President Klaus Iohannis is talking about it, saying that it is “not useful” for our country to force a vote in the JAI Council from December, unless everyone is convinced that Romania is not a vulnerable place.

The head of state’s statements come in the context of the fact that the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria have already raised objections to Romania’s accession to Schengen at the JAI Council on December 8. To get the green light, the vote must be unanimous.

“I think December 8th has been spread as a deadline, which it is not. December 8 is the first opportunity to discuss this issue, and I am interested in ensuring that during the vote we clearly vote for Romania’s access to Schengen. It does absolutely no good for anyone to force a vote that may not be expected. This is around the date of December 8th. Romania’s chances are relatively good. We have a good chance of being accepted into the Schengen zone, but as I said, there are no guarantees. There are member states of the Union who still have questions about us, who still have questions about the Schengen system,” the head of state said after meeting with his Latvian counterpart Egils Levits, Agerpres reports.

He added that Romania is willing and ready to provide answers to countries that still have questions about Schengen.

“These are legitimate questions, and we are ready to answer them. So now we can answer, for example, to our Dutch friends that the MCV has been abolished and this barrier no longer exists. We have for everyone interested two sets of experts who have tested Romania’s preparation and found both rounds of experts to be very well prepared. We don’t have a migration flow, this is for our Austrian friends, and for those from Sweden who had certain questions, which were more about cooperation with the police, we can tell them that we are not only morally ready, we are ready with people, so we really ready, and so far there have been programs that have given good results. We are ready to expand them. We don’t just say that the Schengen zone will become safer if Romania joins it, we prove it and will continue to prove it,” said Iohannis.

“There is a possibility that the decision will be postponed for a month or two until clear and correct answers to all questions are received”

The head of state said that it is desirable that answers to all these questions be given to the JAI Council and an agreement be reached.

“This is the version we want, and this is the version proposed by the presidency of the Union Council, which is currently in the Czech Republic, but I want to be very clear, if for various reasons we cannot be sure that everything is very clear, there is a possibility that this decision will be delayed for a month or two until all the questions are answered clearly and correctly and everyone is convinced that we are not only not vulnerable, we would be a real victory for the Schengen area, and to finish what I said , some have questions for us, and others – the Schengen area. The Schengen zone operates according to some rules that were established several years ago. The world has changed. We also know this, and there is a need to improve some approaches, some procedures. We are part of this process. We are now part of the process of improving the Schengen area, and obviously if we become part of it, we will continue these efforts, but the argument that if the Schengen area is not perfect, Romania and other countries should remain outside it, does not seem to be relevant “, the head of state concluded.

President Klaus Iohannis will pay an official visit to Latvia on Wednesday.

The news is updated