The Albanian Prime Minister thanked the Presidency for its role in promoting the accession process.Continue reading
Last Friday, the interior ministers of Austria, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary met in Budapest where they agreed on a new border protection package, and backed Bulgaria and Romania to become full members of the Schengen area from 2025, if a unanimous decision is taken at the December EU interior ministers’ summit.
Hungary’s Interior Minister Sándor Pintér presented the elements of the border protection package at a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner, Bulgarian counterpart Atanas Ilkov, Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Cătălin Predoiu and EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson. The participating countries will send a joint contingent of 100 border guards to the Bulgarian-Turkish border, the details of which will be decided by December, Sándor Pintér informed the press.
Photo: MTI/Illyés Tibor
The Austrian interior minister praised the efforts made by Romania and Bulgaria over the past two years to strengthen border protection. He recalled that
since the Netherlands and Austria vetoed the two countries’ Schengen accession in 2022, the number of illegal immigrants apprehended at the eastern border of the two countries has decreased from 70,000 to 3,000, but the aim is to bring this number close to zero.
He added that internal border controls would continue to be maintained on a temporary basis as part of the border management agreement.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov said that his country had provided substantial financial resources to reinforce the Bulgarian-Turkish border, which had led to a significant reduction in illegal border crossings. Off-road vehicles equipped with motion detection cameras will help border police and, as a further step, around 1,200 additional border police officers will be deployed along the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
Milestone meeting in Budapest!
Today, Interior Ministers of , in the presence of @YlvaJohansson, adopted a joint declaration, paving the way for lifting internal land border controls with, and between Romania and Bulgaria.
The declaration outlines key commitments to:
… pic.twitter.com/MXWhDUMmuJ— Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2024 (@HU24EU) November 22, 2024
Romanian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu said that with the recent agreement in Budapest, Romania had achieved its goal and that the country’s membership of Schengen would strengthen the security of the EU. “Romania has also provided significant human and financial resources to meet Schengen requirements,” he stressed. The Romanian and Bulgarian interior ministers thanked Hungary and Sándor Pintér personally for supporting the accession process.
János Bóka, EU Affairs Minister, described the Budapest meeting as “historic,” “where we have taken a giant step forward towards full Schengen membership for Bulgaria and Romania.” In a video posted on X, he underlined that
with the full Schengen membership of Bulgaria and Romania, one of the priorities of the Hungarian EU Presidency will be fulfilled.”
The official decision on this is to be taken by the EU interior ministers in Brussels on December 12, and “we all look forward to the full Schengen membership of Romania and Bulgaria on January 1, 2025,” the minister stressed.
With the full Schengen membership of #Bulgaria and #Romania one of @HU24EU priorities will be achieved! pic.twitter.com/db0EdDFr4z
— Bóka János (@JanosBoka_HU) November 22, 2024
Via MTI, Featured image: X / Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2024