Schengen: no European free zone for Romania and Bulgaria

European Union interior ministers voted to accept Croatia into the 26-country border-free Schengen zone, but to reject Romania and Bulgaria.

The vote was greeted with relief in Zagreb, but anger and dismay in Bucharest and Sofia.

Germany’s foreign minister said it was a bad day for Europe.

The European Commission argued that the three countries met the necessary criteria to join the zone, which includes 420 million people.

“I am also disappointed,” said European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson.

Croatia joined the EU in 2013; Romania and Bulgaria had become member states six years earlier.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic welcomed the decision, which means Croatia will close its border crossings with EU neighbors Slovenia and Hungary on January 1, the same day it joins the euro.

Created in 1985, the Schengen area allows people and goods to move freely, generally without presenting travel or customs documents.

It includes 22 of the 27 EU states as well as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Austria and the Netherlands voted against the admission of Romania and Bulgaria, fearing that the two countries would be lenient on illegal immigration. The most vehement opposition came from Austria.

“It is not normal that a system that does not work in many places is being extended at this time,” Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said to explain his country’s veto.

As the main reason for keeping Romania and Bulgaria out of Schengen, the Vienna government cited a rapid increase in the number of migrants entering Austria illegally via the Western Balkan route.

However, Romanian and Bulgarian political leaders say relatively few people pass through their territory and that their bid to join Schengen has been derailed for political reasons. They claim that the Austrian and Dutch governments are seeking to attract the anti-immigration vote.

The European border agency, Frontex, has reported 128,000 “irregular entries” into the EU from the Western Balkans so far this year, an increase of 77% compared to 2021, including 22,300 in the EU alone. month of October. These numbers include multiple attempts by the same people.

The Austrian government says there are currently 75,000 irregular migrants in the country. Around 40% come from India and Tunisia, having landed legally in Serbia, a non-EU country, under a visa-free regime; Another 40% come from countries led by Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria.

Romania said it did not understand Austria’s “inflexible decision”.

The leader of the ruling Social Democrats, Marcel Ciolacu, went further: “European unity and stability have received today a hard blow from a state which has chosen, in difficult times, to ‘abandon his European comrades and serve Russia’s interests.’

But Bulgaria’s acting Interior Minister, Ivan Demerdzhiev, was more diplomatic: “Austria has made it clear that it is ready to compromise and wants a complete reform of the Schengen area in places where the mechanisms don’t work,” he said, remaining hopeful. that Thursday’s decision would be reversed next year.

There has also been criticism in Austria, with migration researcher Judith Kohlenberger pointing out that the majority of people who came to Austria for protection were already in the EU.

“It is both irrational and hypocritical to blame Romania and Bulgaria, but not Hungary or even Croatia, who continue to carry out systematic pushbacks,” she said.