If Austria opposes the accession of Romania to the EU’s Schengen Zone in December this year at the Justice and Home Affairs (JAI) Council meeting, Romania has the right to challenge the decision at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the Prime Minister of Romania, Marcel Ciolacu has said.
He told Digi24 that he is waiting for the JAI Council in December when the issue of accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen will once again be brought to the table, and if Vienna uses its veto without justification, Ciolacu will appeal the decision to the High Court.
We have to wait for the JAI in December. It is possible that we will no longer have the discussion with the action at the CJEU – the Court of Justice of the European Union. If we remain in the logic in which Austria uses its right of veto without justification, not the migration that is at 3 per cent (…), I reserve the right to challenge Austria’s decision at the High Court.
He considered Austria’s current position unjustified, noting that both Romania and Bulgaria had met all the technical conditions for over ten years.
Romania’s PM expressed his belief that a way will be found so that Romania and Bulgaria are no longer kept in a corner, stressing that it is not a requirement of both these Balkan countries, but, according to him, it is simply right.
I maintain my opinion that it is totally incorrect to put the interests and internal politics before the interests of an entire Europe at a time when solidarity matters the most.
His comments came at a trilateral meeting held in Varna on October 9, during which Romania, together with Bulgaria and Greece, agreed to implement a common plan of action in significant development areas.
In spite of fulfilling all the needed requirements, Austria continues to remain against the further enlargement of the borderless area, under pretending that as long as the Schengen system does not work, there is no point in further extending it.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of the Interior of Austria told SchengenVisaInfo.com that Austria’s position remains the same regarding this issue.
Unlike Austria, recently, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again expressed his support for the membership of both of these countries in the visa-free travel zone, considering the expansion of this area an important concern for the federal government.
Earlier this month, the Bulgarian Minister of Internal Affairs, Kalin Stoianov, said that he believes that both countries would be admitted to the Schengen Zone in December this year.
