Former Prime Minister Ludovic Orban claims that Austria and the Netherlands voted against Romania’s accession to Schengen as well as the result of “ineffective actions by the leaders of Romanian diplomacy”.

“The rejection of Romania in Schengen is a big failure of the current PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition and, above all, an unforgivable failure of the one who should lead the country’s foreign policy, President Iohannis.

Today, two countries voted against it: Austria and the Netherlands. The first voted unequivocally against Romania, the second voted against because Romania was in a package with Bulgaria. Austria’s opposition completely surprised Romanian officials and represents a change of position that was not expected by the leaders of Romanian diplomacy, who reacted late and clumsily. The opposition of the Netherlands is related to the decision of Johannis to stay together with Bulgaria in the vote on the accession to the Schengen area, although it was known that the Netherlands would not vote for the accession of Bulgaria, and therefore also Romania. I also categorically state that neither Austria nor the Netherlands have a strong reason to vote against. But their vote against is also the result of the ineffective actions of the leaders of Romanian diplomacy,” Ludovic Orban wrote on Facebook.

The ex-prime minister claims that “someone should pay for the failure.”

“Simply publicly condemning the states that voted against Romania’s accession does not benefit us. A serious analysis of the mistakes made and a rethinking of the Schengen accession strategy are necessary. The possibility of appealing the decision to the CJEU should also not be ruled out,” Orban said.

Romania, which has been waiting for 11 years to join Schengen, this time is not included in the European free movement zone, although it had the support of 26 EU countries. Austria managed to block a favorable decision in the Council of the CIS, since unanimity is required to join Schengen. It was joined by the Netherlands on the condition that they oppose the accession of Bulgaria, and the vote was cast “together with Romania”.