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Austria maintains its veto on the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area with land borders, said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner according to Krónika.
Austria vetoed the accession of the two countries in December 2022, citing the need to tighten the EU’s external borders and reform the system, arguing that
in one year more than 100,000 illegal migrants had arrived in Austria,
having previously passed through EU member states from which they should not have been allowed to continue.
It is not just about Romania and Bulgaria. The whole migration system is in a catastrophic situation,”
the Austrian interior minister said in an interview to the newspaper Die Presse. He added that the protection of the EU’s external borders was a priority of the EU’s new asylum and migration pact.
At the end of last year, the Austrian government agreed to allow the two states to join the border-free zone under limited terms. Under the terms of the partial accession, citizens traveling by sea and air can enter without border controls.
Unlike the Austrians, the Hungarian government is supporting Romania’s accession. Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó called the accession of the neighboring country to the Schengen area Hungary’s national interest. This would also open up ten new border crossing points between the two countries, that would be a great help to the local Hungarian community in Romania in maintaining relations with the motherland.
Via Krónika; Featured Image: Pixabay