According to the governments of Bucharest and Sofia, Romania, Bulgaria and Austria have managed to reach an agreement on Schengen expansion. The Romanian Ministry of the Interior has announced that Bulgaria and Romania will apply Schengen law at their air and sea borders from March next year. All that was said from Vienna on Thursday was that negotiations were still ongoing.
The Austrian conditions for an ‘Air Schengen’ are the increase of Frontex operations in Bulgaria and money from the European Commission for ‘robust protection of the external borders’. The Interior Ministry also said there are calls for increased land border controls and asylum seekers, mainly from Afghanistan and Syria, being readmitted by Romania and Bulgaria.
At the beginning of December, Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) offered that the Schengen borders could be abolished for air traffic with Bulgaria and Romania, if stricter border controls were introduced in return. ‘Air Schengen’ means that air passengers from Romania and Bulgaria no longer have to fly to Europe via foreign terminals; their passports are checked by the airlines at the gate as usual. There are currently no negotiations taking place regarding accession to the ‘Schengen country’ and therefore no date, it was emphasized on Thursday.
Negotiations for full Schengen membership
The agreement was reached on December 23 between the Ministries of the Interior in Vienna, Sofia and Bucharest and was subsequently discussed through diplomatic channels, at the level of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and at EU Representations, so that it could be legally incorporated into the decisions of the Permanent Representatives Committee. However, it comes from the Romanian Ministry of the Interior. Accordingly, negotiations for full Schengen membership should continue “at full speed” next year, taking into account Austria’s demands.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkow said on Thursday that Austria was committed to continuing land negotiations on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the border-free Schengen area. After complicated negotiations, the two countries reached a fundamental agreement with Austria on joining Schengen by air and sea, Denkow said, according to Bulgarian news agency BTA. These negotiations will be accompanied by significant support from the European Commission to protect the EU’s external borders with Turkey and Serbia and thus reduce the flow of illegal migrants into Europe, Denkow continued.
Vilimsky: “Wrong and precarious decision”
Meanwhile, the liberal head of the delegation to the EU Parliament, Harald Vilimsky, described the agreement between Romania, Bulgaria and Austria as a “wrong and precarious decision”. “What is being sold to people as ‘gradual accession to Schengen’ is nothing more than another door opener for unbridled illegal migration to Austria and thus a clear security risk for our country,” Vilimsky said. The decision leads to a further loss of control and provides further opportunities for smugglers and illegal migrants to find their way into Austria.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
