Austria wanted to remind on Thursday that the opening of the European sea and air space for Romania and Bulgaria does not mean full membership of the Schengen area, and that it did not present an implementation calendar in this sense, AFP and Agerpres reported on Thursday evening.

“Schengen Air means that passengers arriving from Romania and Bulgaria will no longer go through passport control, apart from the airline’s boarding control,” Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told AFP.

But “there are currently no actual accession negotiations” and therefore “no date” for implementation, the ministry told a French news agency.

Vienna’s conditions for “Schengen Air” are an increase in Frontex operations in Bulgaria and money from the EU Commission for reliable protection of external borders. The Ministry of the Interior in Vienna clarified to the Austrian press agency APA that it is also demanding tighter controls at land borders and that asylum seekers, especially from Afghanistan and Syria, be accepted by Romania and Bulgaria.

Karner’s clarifications came after officials from Romania and Bulgaria announced Wednesday night that they had reached an agreement with Austria on free movement in the Schengen area by sea and air, with the issue of land borders postponed.

The news is updated.