Austria’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner, insisted that he must first see how Romania’s and Bulgaria’s entry into Schengen will proceed from the air and sea borders, and only then will he consider the next step, land border access.

Present, on Monday, at the meeting of the Ministers of the Interior and Justice of the EU, Gerhard Karner was asked by journalists whether in the near future something will change in the position of Austria regarding the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen, including the land borders, reports News.ro.

“We had a very open and intensive dialogue at the beginning of the year and we reached a compromise that will enter into force at the end of this month, or rather at the end of March, the so-called sea Schengen and air Schengen,” said Gerhard Koerner, referring to the agreement reached regarding the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen zone with air and sea borders from the end of March.

At the same time, Austria’s interior minister suggested that Vienna was in no rush to decide on the country’s borders, preferring to see how this partial Schengen works and then “think about it”.

Let’s implement this compromise first

“I think it is very important that we implement this compromise first, take this step and think about the next step after that,” Karner told reporters in Brussels, who raised the issue of complaints from Austrian companies because the “blockade” on the borders with Bulgaria and Romania make it difficult for them to do business.

“Anything else is counterproductive,” argued Gerhard Karner. “I consider it wrong to speculate about the next step until the first step has been taken,” said the Austrian Minister of the Interior. “We need to see how it works (compromise – no), and then the next steps are possible.

Taking a second or even a third step before the first is completely wrong and counterproductive, and sometimes leads to people not being satisfied with how the mechanism works,” Carner insisted.

The Belgian presidency supports the full accession of Romania to Schengen in the Council of the CIS

The statements were made in the context of the Justice and Home Affairs Council held in Brussels. The meeting, which started on Monday and will end on Tuesday, has agenda topics such as the Schengen area, asylum and migration, the fight against drug trafficking, organized crime and more.

The Minister of the Interior, Kathleen Preoiu, said on Monday, before the JAI Council, that Romania can bring more stability to the Schengen area, can strengthen the Schengen area, and it is not at all true to continue to have only partial integration.

“It is true that we took an important step last December by entering Schengen with air and sea borders, but I think this progress should be followed by another step this year. We will work in this sense with our colleagues and friends from Austria , from other member states,” Predoyu said.

The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU will continue to work on the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, in accordance with the recommendations of the European Commission of the Council of JAI, reports Agerpres.

“We appreciated the very important decision taken last December, which will lead to the abolition of internal air and sea border controls in Romania and Bulgaria, starting from March 31. I want to convey my warmest congratulations to the two countries involved and the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU for these great achievements. I can assure that the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU will continue to work for full accession to Schengen in accordance with the Commission’s recommendations,” Verlinden said at a press conference at the end of the meeting of European interior ministers.

The Chancellor of Austria arrives in Bucharest on Wednesday and Thursday

Eleven heads of state and government of the European Union will come to Bucharest on March 6-7 for the Congress of the European People’s Party (EPP). Among those who confirmed their presence is Austrian cancer patient Karl Nehammer, the main opponent of Romania’s accession to Schengen.

Liberal Degfried Muresan said that at the Congress of the People’s Democratic Party in Bucharest, Chancellor Karl Nehammer “would have had the opportunity to see that the people applying for asylum in Austria do not come from Romania.”

He stated that he hopes that Romania will get full accession to Schengen as soon as possible, but added that discussions on this matter will take place only in the second part of this year.

Mep Rid Rid Bohdan claimed that full Schengen accession could be achieved this year: “Yes, yes, it could be 2024 with a friendly announcement made by the leaders of the ruling party in Austria, right at the Congress in Bucharest (…) No, I want to create foreboding.”

Marcel Chioaku claims that everything will be resolved by the end of the year

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Monday that Romania will also enter Schengen by land by the end of 2024.

“Romania will enter the Schengen zone by air and sea in a month – no.” Naturally, even more attention will be required, there will be greater challenges, being at the beginning. I guarantee you that by the end of this year, Romania will enter the Schengen area. Next year, Romania will no longer have visas with America, and in 2026 Romania will join the OECD, the country’s most important project is to join the OECD,” the Prime Minister announced.

“These are the most important things that decision-makers in Romania should do,” added Čolaku.

Romania’s partial accession to Schengen from March 31

At the end of December, the EU Council announced that Romania and Bulgaria will join Schengen with an air and sea border on March 31, 2024.

The authorities in Bucharest tried in the negotiations for December 2023 to introduce a specific date for the lifting of border controls, but they received only the promise of negotiations. A declaration at the end of the year, signed by the three countries attached to the EU Council’s communication, mentions a “commitment to discuss in 2024 a date for the possible lifting of border controls”.

This, however, is conditional on the 5 measures leading to “a significant improvement of the migration situation in Austria”, additional measures that have not been applied in the case of any other country that has joined Schengen.

Still depends on Austria, decisions are taken unanimously. By the way, this is also indicated in the decision of the Council of the EU, published in the official journal of the Union: “The Council is making efforts to adopt a decision on the elimination of control over people at internal land borders. The relevant decision was adopted by the Council, which decides unanimously, in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article ( 2) Law on accession to the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania from 2005 “

What can be the probable date of land, and most importantly, Romania, integration into Schengen? As things stand at the moment, it could most likely be adopted later this year, and actual integration could be in 2025. This is due to the European electoral context this year and the fact that Austria has internal elections in the autumn, it is unlikely that Vienna’s position will change until then.

“That would be wrong”

Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner
Tiri-eSentian-26820385-austria-opune-Continuation of-romania’s-Schengen-Land-Borders-charner-mistake-now-not-austria’s-business to do-calendar.htm “> also stated at the end of From 2023 that integration with airports and the Navy is a “step forward”, but “at this point it would be wrong” to give the green light for joining and land borders.

“It would be wrong at this stage. Land borders are still needed. It’s not just about Romania and Bulgaria. The whole migration system is in disarray. I’m not the one to judge Romania and Bulgaria. I’m committed to the functioning of the system at the European level. And this will only be provided that the external border is protected. This is also an important part of the new pact on asylum and migration that the EU has agreed and which we must now implement. Only then can there be full freedom of movement in the EU again,” Carner said in an interview iu Die Presse.