European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson confirms that Romania and Bulgaria meet all EU criteria to become members of the Schengen area and says she is “convinced” that a decision on Romania and Bulgaria’s accession will be made “quite soon”. . However, she says she is “concerned” by the situation where 75% and 90% of illegal immigrants arriving in Austria and the Netherlands, respectively, were not registered before entering those countries.

• “There is nothing left for Bulgaria and Romania to do in order to be able to enter the Schengen area.
• But for other reasons unrelated to that, of course we have to have a well-functioning Schengen area, and for example I am concerned about the situation where in Austria, for example, 75% of those who arrived illegally were not registered before arrival to this country
• In the Netherlands, 90% of illegal immigrants who arrive there have not been registered before, and of course this is part of the Schengen acquis and the fact that there is a well-functioning entry registration,” Ylva Johansson said in an interview given in Brussels to Press -agencies that are part of the European Newsroom (enr), including Agerpres.

She stressed that for these reasons it is important that all parties involved focus on how they can have a better-functioning Schengen area that also includes return data, in line with the EU’s Dublin Regulation, which specifies that migrants who are deported through which they first entered the community block and for their asylum claims to be processed there.

• “So this is an aspect where we can do more from the Commission, and I am convinced that we will be able to make a decision on the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen quite soon,” said Ilva Johansson.

It will be recalled that Romania’s accession to Schengen was blocked by the Chancellor of Austria, who was accused of taking this step in order to increase his electoral score in the internal elections. Nehhammer rejected the idea that Austria’s veto could have been dictated by internal political motives, the Austrian chancellor called it an “absurd assumption” that there was a connection with the elections in Lower Austria.

After the JAI vote on December 8, both Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehhammer and Interior Minister Gerhard Karner claimed that of the more than 100,000 immigrants or asylum seekers who arrived in Austria, 75,000 were not registered anywhere, and this must have happened when crossing the border. external border of the EU. They claimed that many of the unregistered arrived via Romania or Bulgaria, contradicting the Romanian authorities.

Last week, Austria’s chancellor warned that Vienna would maintain its veto against the extension of the Schengen zone as long as it “doesn’t work”: “The large number of migrants detained in Austria shows that the Schengen system is not working, and while this system and the protection of external borders doesn’t work, there can’t be an extension either.”