Poco prima dell’incontro GAI, il rappresentante dell’Austria afferma che non è ancora giunto il momento per Romania e Bulgaria di aderire a Schengen

DeepL Translate:

“Prior to the start of the JHA meeting, which is considering Romania’s entry into the Schengen area, the Austrian representative said that although there are reasons for optimism, it is not yet time for Romania and Bulgaria to be fully admitted.

On Thursday, ahead of meeting his EU counterparts at the JHA meeting, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said that the time is not yet ripe for Romania and Bulgaria to be fully admitted to the Schengen area, although progress has been made.

“We are on the right track, but not at the end of the road,” said Gerhard Karner.

While air and sea border controls were lifted at the end of March, when Romania and Bulgaria also became members of “Air Schengen”, the same is not true for land borders, which are considered the most important. Romania’s full admission to the Schengen area is currently blocked by Austria, reports News.ro, citing external sources.

Ylva Johansson, the current EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, has expressed her wish to see internal border controls lifted with Romania and Bulgaria before the end of her mandate. She is expected to hand over to her successor designate, current Austrian Finance Minister Magnus Brunner, in December or January, when the new European Commission takes office.

“We have had good experiences at air borders and I think it is time to lift controls at land borders as well,” Ylva Johansson emphasized on Thursday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in favor of Romania and Bulgaria fully joining Schengen, while Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pintér, whose country currently holds the EU Council presidency, also expressed his support for Romania and Bulgaria joining Schengen by the end of the year.

A new decision by the JHA Council, which meets today, is needed to set the date for the complete lifting of border controls with Romania and Bulgaria.”

This is embarrassing, just let them in, it doesn’t make sense to try and humiliate two EU countries this way.

Nearly 20 years since we signed the agreement. For reference the rest of eastern Europe(Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, etc) got in 3 and a half years after signing. If we followed the same timeline we should’ve been accepted in 2009 when the economy was booming and there were no refugees. At some point we should give up and form Balkan Schengen with chalga and rakia. It seems that the eu doesn’t want us as members anyway.