Romania Remains Determined on Its Efforts to Join Schengen Area Despite Opposition From Austria

The Romanian Interior Minister, Lucian Bode, has once again reinstated his government’s commitment and objectives to join the Schengen Area this year, despite some EU Member States opposing this proposal.

According to reports by G4Media, Bode made this statement while the Council of the European Union for Justice and Home Affairs is being held in Brussels, but the agenda doesn’t include any point of discussion regarding the expansion of the Schengen Area, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“I would only emphasize one aspect, the one that I emphasized in my intervention: I am absolutely convinced that the security of the external borders of the European Union, the Schengen borders, and the security of European Union citizens will be greatly increased with the expansion of the Schengen Area and Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area,” Bode pointed out in this regard.

As per Austria, which EU Member State has openly and firmly opposed Romania’s proposal to enter the Schengen Area, Bode said that both the Romanian Ministry of Interior and the Austrian Federal Ministry had a meeting in early February which was also followed by ‘very good meeting with interior minister Gerhard Karner” and Romania’s ambassador to Vienna, as Bode pointed out.

The same also highlighted a report presented by the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, revealing that migration on the Western Balkan route has dropped by 44 per cent in 2023 compared to the end of 2022 when this route was severally attacked by illegal border crossings. One of the reasons why Austria opposes Romania’s acquisition is migration rates, with such statements being made at similar times when the Western Balkan route was experiencing an increasing number of arrivals.

More specifically, Austria said it couldn’t agree to the Schengen area’s enlargement plans to include Romania, as long as it isn’t functional, as Interior Minister, Gerhard Karner pointed out that over 100,000 asylum seekers had arrived in Austria, with 75,000 of them (75 per cent) not registered in EU migrations systems – indicating that many of the unregistered asylum seekers came through Romania or Bulgaria.

Bode also welcomed the intervention of several countries, who also reaffirmed their support for Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Zone.

According to the most recent data presented by Frontex, the EU Border and Coast Guard Agency, the Western Balkan route has experienced a 28 per cent decrease in the corresponding time in 2022, recording 3,361 and 8,394 illegal border crossings recorded in January and February, respectively. The same source shows that the majority of arrivals came from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey and that the Central Mediterranean route has become the most active during this time, experiencing a 118 per cent increase.