Romania is ready to host an additional mission from the Netherlands to check whether the conditions for joining the Schengen area are being met, and the interior minister has sent a letter to his Dutch counterpart on the matter, Prime Minister Nicolae Cucée said on Friday. The Prime Minister’s announcement came after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the European Commission’s assessment mission to Romania was “too limited” because not all criteria were checked.

Cuke said that Romania will do “everything in its power” to convince its EU partners that it meets the criteria to join the Schengen area and that this has been “proven” by the inspection commission, which included representatives of all EU states, and the result will be presented on October 26, when “we will have clear evidence.”

• “The Dutch Parliament adopted a resolution, not a report on refusal of entry, but a report requesting clarification on aspects related to the rule of law, corruption and organized crime.
• I understand that some clarifications are needed.
• At the meeting with Prime Minister Rutte from Sink, we expressed our openness to make all data available. Mr. Bode has sent a letter to his Dutch colleague so that we can come and clarify all aspects,” Chuke said.

He said that in case there are still certain things that need to be clarified, as requested by the Netherlands, Romania is ready to do so:

• “There is no doubt that our country has fulfilled and will fulfill all the requirements for joining the Schengen zone. (…)
• If there are certain things that need to be clarified in the Netherlands, we are here, we are clarifying them, and I am convinced that we will have steps to implement them.”

Interior Minister Lucian Bode also said Romania was continuing “this diplomatic approach at the highest level.”

The Dutch parliament does not want Romania and Bulgaria in Schengen

The Dutch Parliament has adopted a resolution which stipulates that the Netherlands should not vote for the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, Dutch MEP Sofia in’T Veld, coordinator of the Renew group in the Commission on Civil Liberties (LIBE) of the European Union, announced on Thursday in a statement to Agerpres. parliament

Dutch parliamentarians are asking the government not to vote for the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen, demanding to analyze the functioning of the rule of law, reducing the level of corruption and organized crime in the two countries.

The document adopted by the Dutch parliament states that problems related to corruption and organized crime in a Schengen country “can cause serious problems for the functioning of the border control of the country concerned and can therefore pose a threat to the security of the Netherlands and the whole of Schengen “. area”.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands listed the “problems” that Romania and Bulgaria still need to solve in order to be accepted in Schengen

The Netherlands “in principle has nothing against Bulgaria or Romania joining Schengen” and “when they are ready, they can join,” said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who, however, listed problems that still exist in two countries .

• “In principle, we have nothing against the accession of Bulgaria or Romania to Schengen.
• When they are ready, they can join.
• The problem is as follows. For both (countries), we also need to update (the assessment) under the cooperation and verification mechanism.
• This is now done for Romania, but not for Bulgaria. This is a problem.
• Second, the mission that is currently taking place within the framework of the Mechanism for the Evaluation and Monitoring of the Schengen Area is not completed.
• There is currently a lack of (assessment of) the Schengen information system and how returns are processed,” the Dutch prime minister said in a speech to the Dutch parliament on Wednesday.

“They also need to be rigorous, fair and involved”

He also said he had discussed the issues “extensively” with President Klaus Iohannis, whom he met last week in Sibiu.

• “We told each other that we would first see what would come out of this (Schengen evaluation) mission, which in our opinion is too limited..
• In addition, we will look at the results of the MCV assessment and together we will take the initiative of the Commission to say: let’s finish this mission quickly. If these results show they are ready, they can join.
• The Netherlands will not object, but then (candidate countries) must also be strict, fair and committed.
• The specific problem for Bulgaria is that the MCV is not part of these discussions. There are also many events at the national level (in Bulgaria) because there is no government at the moment, in Flemish terms,” Mark Rutte added in his speech.
• The European Parliament passed a non-legislative resolution by a large majority on Tuesday, in which it asks the Council of the European Union to take all necessary measures by the end of 2022 to decide on Romania’s admission. and Bulgaria to the Schengen area of ​​free movement. The expansion of the Schengen zone requires a unanimous decision of the EU Council.

  Currently, among the EU member states, only Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania are not part of the Schengen area, which also includes non-EU states (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein).