Romania is already a member of Schengen, and the first step towards joining, which concerns air and sea spaces, has advantages such as highlighting the port of Constanta, Foreign Minister Luminica Odobescu told Agerpres.

“The joining of air and ground space is a positive step with important, positive consequences for Romanian citizens traveling by air, and in the same way, the port of Constanţa will be much more highlighted by this decision. The process is irreversible. We are already in Schengen, although we have one more step left, namely the abolition of land border controls. I want to emphasize that this is an irreversible process,” said the head of Romanian diplomacy.

She said the foreign and interior ministries would continue efforts to complete this process with the integration of land borders into the European free movement area “in close cooperation with the Austrian side as well as the European side.” institution”.

The minister avoided estimating the date of Romania’s full accession.

“This decision belongs to the member states, and it is very important to continue the dialogue with other member states. I am careful not to give a fixed date, but I can tell you that we will continue the dialogue both with the Austrian side and with the European Commission. Mainly with the European Commission to implement agreements on strengthening the protection of internal borders, the European Commission made a statement on this matter and expressed its support, including financial resources, to strengthen the protection of the external borders of the European Union,” he said. Odobescu.

“Romania fulfills its duty to protect external borders”

She noted that Romania has a pilot project on the border with Serbia, of best practices on asylum procedures, with the support of the European Commission.

“In addition to fulfilling the conditions laid down in the Community acquis, Romania fulfills its duty to protect the external borders and contributes to the security of the European Union,” the Romanian minister concluded.

As of March 31, control at sea and air borders between Romania or Bulgaria and any state of the Schengen Agreement will disappear. The complete joining of the two states, including land borders, remains a topic of discussion at the level of the European community this year as well.