Negotiations on Romania’s accession to Schengen are still ongoing, This was stated by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Vienna, Gerhard Karnerthus softening the momentum of Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku who announced on Wednesday that Romania will join the free movement area in Europe, but without providing a calendar for joining with the land border. However, the reaction of Austrian politicians did not take long either, according to News.ro.

While Romania and Bulgaria announce that they have the green light to fully join Schengen, Austria is again stalling. Interior Minister (Gerhard) Karner’s decision to save face is on shaky ground. Yesterday, Romania and Bulgaria happily announced an agreement with Austria over the Schengen dispute, saying they were working towards gradual accession. In Vienna, they do not want to know anything about this, negotiations are underway and the question of full expansion cannot be raised, the Kleine Zeitung notes in a comment.

Austria’s agreement with Romania and Bulgaria is a “wrong decision”

The head of the Freedom Party (FPOe, far-right) delegation in the European Parliament, Harald Vilimski, called the Schengen agreement between Romania, Bulgaria and Austria “a wrong and shaky decision”. “What is being sold to people as ‘gradual accession to Schengen’ is nothing more than a new open door for unlimited illegal migration to Austria, and therefore a clear risk for the security of our country,” Vilimskyi commented on the agreement.

According to the Austrian politician, this decision will lead to a further loss of control and will give new opportunities for smugglers and illegal migrants to enter Austria.

Instead, SPÖ (Social Democrats of Austria) foreign policy spokeswoman Petra Bair described the agreement reached by Austria, Romania and Bulgaria to implement the Schengen agreement by air and sea from March as “maximum relief for managers”.

“Medical personnel traveling to Austria from Romania and Bulgaria do not arrive by plane, but by ground transport. We urgently need to make things easier, especially for these important skilled workers – in their interests and in the interests of people in need in Austria. “, Bair said. The government does not take into account the needs and problems of Austrians, otherwise it would not support the massive obstacles for carers, she added.

How the press from Austria reports on the political agreement on the partial accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen

Romania and Bulgaria announced progress in talks with Vienna to get it to lift its veto it has used so far to oppose the expansion of the Schengen area. The Ministry of the Interior in Vienna, however, wants nothing to do with it, writes Die Presse.

And Der Standard writes that the Ministry of the Interior in Vienna limited itself to a statement on Thursday that negotiations are currently ongoing.

According to representatives of the governments of Romania and Bulgaria, a “political agreement” has been reached with Austria regarding the expansion of Schengen. Under the agreement, Bulgaria and Romania will apply Schengen law to their air and sea borders starting in March 2024, the Romanian Ministry of the Interior announced. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said he was happy that Romanian citizens would be able to “enjoy the benefits of the Schengen area in air and sea transport from March 2024.” He also expressed his belief that Bucharest and Vienna will complete negotiations on the abolition of land border controls within the next year. According to the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the principle decision was made on December 23 and was later discussed at the EU level. In its press release, the Ministry of the Interior from Bucharest thanked the European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, as well as the Ministries of the Interior in Vienna and Sofia for the “constructive discussions” that made this agreement possible, summarizes Die Presse.

However, the Austrian Ministry of the Interior emphasized on Thursday that there are currently no negotiations on joining Schengen with land borders, and therefore there is no deadline, writes Der Standard.

As for the accession to Schengen with air borders, Austria sets the conditions – an increase in the Frontex mission in Bulgaria and money from the European Commission for strong protection of external borders. The interior ministry in Vienna told the Austrian news agency APA that it is also demanding tighter controls at land borders and wants Romania and Bulgaria to accept asylum seekers, particularly from Afghanistan and Syria.

The Austrian press also recorded the statements of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Nikolay Denkov. On Thursday, he said that Austria wants to continue negotiations on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area and land borders. After difficult negotiations, the two countries reached an agreement in principle with Austria to join the Schengen agreement by air and sea, Denkov said, according to the Bulgarian news agency BTA. These negotiations will be accompanied by significant support from the European Commission to protect the EU’s external borders with Turkey and Serbia in order to reduce the flow of illegal migrants to Europe, Denkov added.

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