The launch of the initiative to abolish land border controls between Greece, Bulgaria and Romania was aimed at keeping the topic of Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen on the European and national political agenda, EP REPER Dacian Cholos, one of the signatories, said in an interview with HotNews.ro . In addition, he noted, it could be a test and could show that opening the border does not increase the risk of illegal migration, which Austria constantly invokes to block the full entry of Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen.

On January 25, Dacian Cholos, together with MEPs Vlad Gheorghe, Georgios Kirtsos (Greece) and Daniel Lorer (Bulgaria), sent a letter to the Greek Minister of Immigration with a proposal to remove controls on the land border between the three countries.

“We had this initiative precisely with the idea of ​​leaving the topic on the agenda and making a proposal that, in my opinion, is feasible. This is possible because I even heard our interior minister say that Romania is legally already a member of Schengen because it is accepted with airports and sea borders and the land border is coming. If Romania is already legally in Schengen, according to the Schengen legislation, the Schengen member states can decide on the temporary introduction of border control, its cancellation when more difficult conditions arise, and the introduction of border control. Such bilateral or multilateral decisions may be taken between certain member states of the Schengen Agreement within the framework of European Schengen legislation. So, like Romania and Bulgaria, Greece can accept this decision, especially since Greece does not have a land border with any Schengen member state. Thus, the fact that Greece will open its border with Bulgaria and thus implicitly with Romania should not create problems for any other member state of the Schengen Agreement, because there is no risk of migrants reaching Austria or other states- members by land. Control remains at the border with Hungary, and then with Austria,” Dacian Cholos said.

Temporary opening of borders, option

In addition to the initiative of sending the letter, the member of the European Parliament from REPER stated that he had discussions and consultations with representatives of the European Commission, as well as with the Minister of Migration of Greece, the addressee of the letter.

“At the first stage, he told me that from their point of view it is very difficult and that he continues to insist on the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen, that this is a priority goal. And here we both agreed that this should remain the main goal, but before making that decision we should also explore that possibility. I have made the arguments, and there will be an analysis from their side as well, we will see in what ways it can be done, and then, obviously, at the end of the day, the decisions of the governments of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania whether they take steps in this direction or not. I fulfilled my role as an MEP,” Cholos said.

MEP REPER noted that an option could be the temporary opening of the borders, if there are detentions until Romania’s full acceptance into Schengen.

“I know that from mid-May to October, when there is a period of waves of tourists who go and stand in queues in Bulgaria and Greece, based on the decisions already made and the Schengen legislation, it can be opened. border, at least during this period. We see how it happens, we see a month, two, how everything works. If there are certain risks, we take them into account and take measures. If there are no problems, we will leave after September, after October. Therefore, I believe that everything can be done rationally, taking into account the reality on the ground, taking responsibility from both sides, in such a way as not to jeopardize the protection of the land border of any member state,” Cholos said. .

Why Dacian Ciolos thinks that Romania has so far missed the moment to join Schengen, with whom he spoke about the Small Land Schengen initiative and what are the plans for the future policy, see the interview below.

Photo: Dreamstime.com