The Austrian chancellor’s response to Romania’s accession to the Schengen zone is, unwittingly, a “gift to Vladimir Putin” as it, among other things, proved that European solidarity is broken, said Deputy Prime Minister Kelemen Hunor, leader of the UDMR. Thursday.

“It’s a matter of conspiracy theory. Of course, it’s a gift, but it wasn’t the chancellor’s intention. The chancellor, very uninspiring in terms of domestic politics, gave a pathetic answer. I don’t think he wanted to give a gift to Putin, but he did because ( …) The European Union needed a success story in this period of internal tension. And this was a success story: “Look at the war, the economic crisis, the energy crisis, and yet we manage to expand the Schengen area, and Europe can be in solidarity.” And this solidarity broke. Any moment when solidarity is broken is a gift for Vladimir Putin, gratuitously and maybe, but I don’t think that was the intention,” said Kelemen Hunor of Interviurile Digi24.ro, asking if Austria’s attitude is a gift for Vladimir Putin.

He added that the European Union is a structure that cannot withstand a lot of tension now, and “abandoning the culture of consensus would be the biggest mistake, because then the EU will enter another, much more tense era.”

Answering the question of who is to blame for Romania’s non-adherence to Schengen, Kelemen Gunor said that “the Austrians” because Romania fulfilled all the necessary criteria stipulated by the agreement.

“Romania did what it had to do, no one knew that Austria would come back so suddenly. (…) We have no reason to blame each other for anything at the moment. If there was a problem with the technical criteria, then of course anyone would have the right to say to us: “You guys in the government have not done their job.” And the anger about this is very great. We were unfairly humiliated. Of course I’m angry. (..) Austria made a donkey and instead of going to a technical evaluation, as it should have been, he cast a political vote,” he claimed.

According to the leader of the UDMR, Austria “violated the Schengen agreement”, which is not about political, but about technical criteria.

However, Kelemen Hunor believes that the situation should not be turned “into a political or ideological issue”, although the question arises whether “discipline exists in the European People’s Party” and that a “very quick” decision would be to put the topic back on the 2023 calendar.

“We must give a political response to a wrong political decision. (…) It is not very difficult to find the point when Austria needs your support in the institutions of the European Union or in international institutions, and yes, there are political sanctions, I am convinced, I do not know at what point. But Romania as a state cannot allow yourself to be humiliated and not respond to such a blow by the Austrians, because then the world will understand that it is As for the boycott, the boycott is an individual matter, here you cannot give instructions, orders, prohibitions, neither in relation to individuals, nor in relation to companies, private firms or the state, because No, the minister gives an order where this or that company should be registered,” the vice-prime minister added. (source: Agerpres)