Staying outside the European Union’s borderless Schengen area results in a total financial loss of 10 billion euros for Romania.
Such an estimate was made on Thursday by the Romanian Minister of Economy, Florin Spataru, according to Romania Insider, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Spataru’s comments follow Austria and the Netherlands voting against Romania and Bulgaria joining the Schengen area.
“Romania’s accession to the Schengen area is a decision that should have been of a technical nature, but it has turned into a decision which, in my point of view, undermines the principle of solidarity that we must proof at every moment,» Underlined the minister on this subject, according to the Agerpres report.
The Minister of Economy stressed that the majority of European Union member states understood that Romania’s place is in the Schengen zone before pleading with each EU ambassador.
For more than ten years, Romania has been waiting to become a member of the Schengen zone, but this process is not yet complete, although the country has fulfilled all the necessary conditions, including all technical conditions.
By unanimous votethe Member States of the European Union supported Croatia’s accession to the Schengen zone, but not the accession of Bulgaria and Romania either. These two countries will no longer be able to benefit from the visa waiver to countries in the Schengen zone from next year, after Austria and the Netherlands voted against joining the border-free Schengen zone .
The position of Austria and the Netherlands regarding the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area has been criticized not only by the authorities of these two countries, but also by those of other Member States of the EU.
The Minister of the Interior of Germany, Nancy Faeser, once again confirmed her country’s support for the accession of Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania to the Schengen area, while emphasizing that she does not share the opinion of the Austrian authorities.
“I don’t understand Austria’s position in this regard. I know that Austria has major national debates on this issue. Faeser said, according to a report published by Reuters.
Despite numerous criticisms, The Austrian Federal Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, confirmed that he supported his country’s position on this issue.
The Chancellor further added that there would be no further expansion of the Schengen area until the EU’s external borders were effectively protected.
“The EU’s misguided asylum policy is to blame for this situation. We will now continue to fight within the EU to correct these mistakes.” he added, according to a Deutsche Welle report.
He pointed out that 75,000 foreigners enter Austria without registration, adding that this is a security issue that must be resolved once and for all.
