Roberta Metzola, the President of the European Union, said that after arriving in Romania, she handed in her passport for control, feeling the frustration that every Romanian goes through, because our country is not in Schengen. Metzola argued that it was discrimination and that Romania has been held hostage for years, News.ro reported.

Robert Metsol was asked on Wednesday by Antena 3 what Romania can do to enter Schengen.

“This is discrimination, if I can say it very bluntly, so many years after joining in 2007. Since 2011, the institutions, including the European Parliament, have determined that Romania has fulfilled all the conditions, and then, I can say, this country has been held hostage for many, many years until, hopefully, we will see the next step at the end of this month, on March 31, with what rightfully belongs to your countries. My message to the citizens of Romania is this: we have been with you as the European Parliament from the beginning, we will continue to demand full access to what is your right. Because if you don’t have full access to what is your right, the European Union is not doing its job well enough,” said Roberta Metzola.

She was asked whether Austria could be persuaded these days at the PPE congress in Bucharest.

“I am very confident, let’s say cautiously confident, that we have finally reached the moment when all countries will say yes to Romania and Bulgaria. I trust the Belgian Presidency, which is now in charge of the negotiations. That is why it is good that we are all together in Bucharest to discuss what is important for our citizens. The idea is not to speak from Brussels about what is important in Bucharest, but it is important to speak in Bucharest what is important for all Romanians,” explained the president of the European Parliament.

The Austrian delegation no longer voted against the election manifesto of the European People’s Party, which calls for Romania to join the Schengen area as soon as possible, said NLP MEP Siegfried Muresan.

“This vote shows that the impasse has been overcome, and even if there were difficulties, we will overcome them and achieve full accession of Romania to the Schengen zone. The previously voted election manifesto, which will form the basis of the political program of the National Liberal Party, includes the following paragraph: “We need full access to the Schengen area for Bulgaria and Romania, abolishing not only air and sea controls, but also land border controls as soon as possible,” said Siegfried Muresan.

The Austrian press announced on Wednesday morning that delegates from Karl Nehhammer’s party, the ÖVP, which is participating in the European People’s Party Congress in Bucharest on Wednesday and Thursday, will oppose the EPP’s election manifesto, which also includes a paragraph proposing the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen zone “as soon as possible”.

Nuclear power and Schengen expansion are “red lines” for the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), Kurier notes.

• INTERVIEW Valean: Austria is a problematic country in many aspects. You can’t get along with them / I don’t really believe that the Schengen issue will be resolved quickly