Romania proposed a new option for joining the Schengen area during the meeting in Slovenia, namely the abolition of air and sea borders in March 2024 and a decision on the date of abolition of land borders to be taken next year. government sources said on Thursday. Austria’s response to the proposal will come after Interior Minister Gerhard Karner’s consultation with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehhammer.

• “Now there are negotiations to enter the air border and the sea border from March 2024 and have a clear calendar, that is, a decision, both for the land border and next year as well. The position has changed in the sense that on land, the date when Romania can join will be discussed in 2024,” government sources said on Thursday.

A decision on this proposal, made by Romania at a meeting of three Slovenian interior ministers, could be taken before the end of this year, possibly at an extraordinary JAI board.

Johannis after discussing Schengen with the Chancellor of Austria: “There is still a lot to agree on”

President Klaus Iohannis says that “a lot still needs to be discussed” before Austria has a favorable position on Romania’s accession to Schengen, but he does not rule out a decision by the end of this year. The head of state had a meeting with the Chancellor of Austria and the Prime Minister of Bulgaria on the subject of Schengen on Thursday in Brussels at the invitation of the President of the European Commission.

When asked about Cholak’s optimism about the decision to join Airways in the first phase, Johannis only commented that “there is still a lot to be negotiated”.

The head of state did not rule out holding an extraordinary JAI Council before the end of the year, but emphasized that “we still have a lot to work on.”

“Negotiations are moving forward, everyone is very involved, and if a solution suddenly appears, it can be formalized, but until then we still have a lot to work on,” he said.

Conditions of Austria

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said on Monday that he presented the European Commission with “clear conditions” that must be met before Vienna agrees to accept Romania and Bulgaria into the so-called “Air Schengen”, APA reported.

“Now it’s the Commission’s turn,” Karner told Ö1’s morning daily after learning at the weekend of the possible easing of Austria’s veto on the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area with the abolition of air borders.

“It’s about the fact that we need progress in the field of protection of the EU’s external borders,” Karner emphasized.

In particular, he asks the Commission to triple the number of border police.

Also, the Commission should allocate funds for border protection infrastructure. First of all, technical modernization of the Bulgarian-Turkish and Romanian-Serbian borders is necessary.

In addition, Carner is calling for stronger land border controls and for Romania and Bulgaria to take in asylum seekers, especially Afghans and Syrians.

Karner motivated the request to support border control by “the problem of human trafficking.” Out of just over 50,000 asylum seekers in Austria, only around 150 migrants made it through the airports, the interior minister explained.

Prime Minister Marcel Çolaku announced on Saturday evening that Austria “has made its position more flexible with regard to the Schengen area and agrees to the abolition of air borders for Romania”. “This means that Romanians will no longer stand in endless queues when flying within the European Union,” he explained.

Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu on Sunday did not give a timetable for Romania joining the air Schengen, but said that “he hopes that Romanians will enjoy the holidays”. Asked if he agreed with the conditions put forward by Austria, Predoi said “there are conditions that I know and we are going to discuss them” and “some of them are also useful for us to strengthen the border”.

The European Commission’s reaction to Austria’s conditions

After Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner presented the terms of agreement for Romania and Bulgaria to join Schengen, the European Commission believes that things are moving in the right direction.

A representative of the European Commission commented on Monday in Brussels that he had taken note of Karner’s statement and that he was satisfied that things were moving in the right direction. Protecting the EU’s external borders is “important” to the Commission. However, he fundamentally maintains his assessment that Romania and Bulgaria meet the conditions for joining Schengen, reports news.ro.

The European Commission consistently supports the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen. In her State of the Union address, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Romania and Bulgaria are de facto Schengen members, proving that they meet all the conditions to join the European free access area. movement. “Let’s finally get them into Schengen without further delay,” von der Leyen said.

It will be recalled that the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen was blocked by Austria and the Netherlands at the JAI Council in December 2022. Bucharest was supported by 26 EU countries, but blocked by Austria.

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