PSD MEP Victor Negrescu says that Romania’s chances of joining Schengen can be realistically assessed early next month, noting that the elections in the Netherlands are important in this whole picture.

Viktor Negrescu, Member of the European Parliament from PSDPhoto: AGERPRES

“The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area was included in the agenda of the Council of Justice and Home Affairs by the Spanish presidency, as promised earlier. We will see what the final agenda will look like, which will most likely be decided on December 5 after the meeting of European ambassadors. Then we can really assess Romania’s chances. By then, the elections in the Netherlands will be over (they are in two days). According to estimates, if the pro-European parties win the elections, we will have a positive answer for Romania,” Victor Negrescu told HotNews.ro.

According to the Romanian MEP, after the elections, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands will visit Bulgaria, from whom we can expect a positive announcement for Bucharest and Sofia.

It will be recalled that the Netherlands opposed the accession of Bulgaria to Schengen, and Austria opposed the expansion by two countries.

“In this context, Austria will remain the only state opposed to accession, and traditionally, no state has been the only state opposed. In addition, there is a chance that Rutte’s party will pressure Austria to concede to the opposition. If this happens, the possible accession of Romania and Bulgaria will become possible by air from March 2024. In the next period, I will have a visit to Austria, where I will meet with several Austrian politicians, and we will once again present the arguments in favor of Romania’s accession,” Negrescu said.

The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area has been on the agenda of the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JAI) since December 5, exactly as it was on the agenda of the JAI since December 2022, when Austria blocked Romania’s entry into the European Free Movement Area. The topic was returned to the agenda, although Vienna has repeatedly stated that it has not changed its position.