How close are Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria to joining the Schengen area? ᐉ News from Fakti.bg – World
The Romanian government is confident that Romania is close to joining the Schengen area in the context of the war in Ukraine and as a result of the entrepreneurial actions of the international establishment.
In an interview with Bloomberg this week, Prime Minister Nicolae Cuca said Romania could become a member of the Schengen area this year.
“Everything we have done since the beginning of the conflict shows that we are ready to become a Schengen member,” Chuka said. “We really expect all the other EU leaders to recognize everything we have done,” he pointed out.
In June, when French President Emmanuel Macron was visiting Romania, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said: “Have a comprehensive discussion with President Macron on the prospects for Schengen expansion and stating Romania’s legitimate expectations regarding accession.”
Iohannis told Macron at the time that Bucharest was counting on the support of Paris to unblock the process. The French president, for his part, reminded that France has stood by Romania “for years” and said that he wanted to move on the subject.
The enlargement of the Schengen area is a priority for the rotating presidency of the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1, has announced that the expansion of the Schengen area is the priority issues for Prague.
We intend to expand Schengen, in contact with the governments of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petar Fiala, told the parliament at the beginning of July. We take the free movement of people in the EU very seriously, he pointed out.
According to the European Commission, Bulgaria and Romania met the technical criteria for membership as early as 2011, and Croatia – in 2019. However, the Council of the EU has not yet given the green light for the entry of the three countries into the border-free zone.
Currently, 26 countries are members of the Schengen Area, of which 22 are from the EU. Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Cyprus and Ireland remain outside the Schengen area. The Schengen area also includes Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
At a July 7 press conference in Prague with visiting Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Czech Prime Minister Petar Fiala said: “We are convinced that Croatia meets all the conditions for joining the Schengen area and during the presidency we will do everything possible to help of the country to join for a year”. Fiala added that during the negotiations with his EU colleagues, he noticed that the bloc was strongly in favor of supporting Zagreb’s ambition.
At that time, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic indicated that some EU countries were opposed to the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.
A step forward for Croatia
At the end of June, the Council of the EU assigned to the Parliament a low assessment of Croatia’s readiness for admission to the Schengen area. The Council adopts a preliminary opinion, which is expected to be evaluated by MEPs. When the EP is ready, the EU Council will be able to vote. The decision is taken unanimously by the Schengen country.
According to Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, from January 1, 2023, Croatia can become a member of both the Eurozone and the Schengen Area.
Plenkovic hopes that the lower house of parliament will soon vote on its position and during the Czech EU presidency this fall, the final decision on Croatia’s membership in the Schengen area will be made.
How do local experts assess Romania’s chances?
Political scientist Cristian Pervulescu told Adeverul that there is a high probability that Romania will join the Schengen area this year, but expressed doubt that the integration will be complete. According to him, it is more likely that this year Romania will be included in the Schengen area from the point of view of air traffic, but not with road and rail traffic.
According to Pervulescu, even before the pandemic, the political context was favorable for Romania in relation to the abolition of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, but “it is obvious that everything still has problems with corruption”.
“I think the situation there is a bit more complicated, as the Commission still has doubts about Romania’s ability to meet the objectives related to the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary,” said Cristian Pervulescu.
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Cristian Diaconescu told “Adeverul” that there are a number of countries in the Schengen Agreement that have reservations about the inclusion of Romania. According to him, the negotiations are bilateral procedures with countries that have reservations and objections regarding the functioning of the rule of law in Romania, such as the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Finland.
“At the moment, there are a number of discussions, including regarding the content of this international document, because since 2015-2016 all kinds of problems have arisen in our country – the wave of migration along the Balkan corridor, and now the crisis in Ukraine, so the issue is extremely sensitive,” commented the former leader of Romanian diplomacy.
According to Adeverul, the political context is currently favorable for Romania’s accession to Schengen amid the establishment of Bucharest as an important international player in the management of the security crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. After the outbreak of war, several meetings and discussions were held with European officials on this matter of diplomatic establishment, the paper stated.
Where is Bulgaria?
During his visit to Brussels in February, the then Prime Minister Kiril Petkov stated that “for now, there is no confidence in Bulgaria on the issue of joining Schengen.” After a conversation with the Prime Minister in the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, Kiril Petkov gave an example of the tale of the lying shepherd boy and said that over the years “we have lied about a lot of things that we have promised” and that is not trustworthy.
In response to the MEPs from GERB/ENP, they published a statement in which they indicated that Kiril Petkov’s statement “deals a heavy blow to the authority of our country” and accused him of betraying the national interest. GERB recalled that in numerous positions and reports both in the European Commission and in the lower parliament, it was clearly and categorically stated that Bulgaria has fulfilled all the criteria necessary for membership in the Schengen area. As a result, Bulgaria gets full access to the Schengen information system, recalled GERB and produced that “not accepting us in Schengen is in favor of those who want to turn Bulgaria and Romania into a buffer zone for migrants”.
At the ceremony of handing over and accepting the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs on August 2, the newly appointed caretaker minister Nikolay Milkov said that the main priority for the caretaker government is the organization of the elections, but added that efforts will also be made to deal with the crisis complex. the inclusion of the Western Balkans to the low union, as well as Bulgaria’s membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and in Schengen.
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Assessment 3.5 from 8 the voice.