The governments of Romania, Bulgaria and Austria have reached an agreement on the expansion of Schengen. The Romanian Ministry of the Interior announced this on Wednesday. Gradual accession is planned.
Bulgaria and Romania must apply Schengen law at their air and sea borders from March 2024. Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) had already made a corresponding offer at the beginning of December. The agreement is said to have been concluded on December 23 between the interior ministries in Vienna, Sofia and Bucharest. It then had to be explained through diplomatic channels, at the level of foreign ministries and EU representations, it was said.
Accordingly, negotiations on full Schengen membership should continue “at full speed” next year – taking into account Austrian demands such as increased protection of the external borders.
In a press release, the Ministry of the Interior in Bucharest thanked the European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council as well as the Ministries of the Interior in Vienna and Sofia for the “constructive discussions” that made this agreement possible.
Here you can see Marcel Ciolacu’s Facebook post.
Ciolacu: “Air and sea benefits”
Negotiations for full Schengen membership should be successfully concluded next year, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced on Facebook. “After 13 years, Romania is finally joining Schengen (…) Romania will enjoy the benefits of the Schengen area by air and sea from March next year,” he wrote. A lot of work has gone into the project. He would like to thank all those involved and colleagues within the government.
Source: Krone
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