What strategy does Romania have to enter Schengen? Austria shows the first signs of goodwill

From Sunday, Romanians will be able to travel without controls at the air and sea borders in the Schengen Area. For now this is the only step that has been taken.

The Minister of the Interior Cătălin Predoiu held a press conference in Vienna together with his Austrian counterpart, Gerhard Karner, through which the details were established for Romania to enter the full Schengen area.

“Nine months ago, I had my first working meeting with Minister Karner, who became a friend, not just a colleague. I was doing it then as a minister of a candidate state for integration into the Schengen Area.

Today I had a working meeting as a minister of a Schengen member state with air and sea borders.

What strategy does Romania have to enter Schengen? Austria shows the first signs of goodwill

It’s a milestone moment for us. We want and we will make this journey together, to the end. But that’s what we all have to work for, and that’s what we discussed today. How to work better to make this road to the end”, said Minister Predoiu.

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Some time ago, the Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) took stock of what he considers to be a “year of deportations”. In total, 12,900 people were forced to leave the country last year, of which 46% were forced to do so.

However, the majority were not refugees, but mostly citizens of Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

Migrants, an impediment

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“Romanian citizens, more dangerous than migrants,” says the Austrian interior minister. He claimed that more Romanian citizens were deported than illegal migrants.

“Romania’s progress in combating illegal migration is today recognized by everyone. We have pilot projects with all neighboring countries.

For example, on the border with Serbia, illegal migration is practically zero. My logic and that of my colleagues in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is to raise this performance on all borders.

Read also: Karner shatters Romania’s dream of Schengen accession: “I think it is wrong to speculate on the next step”

We will supplement Border Police forces and continue investment. We will continue good collaboration with Austria and all other Member States and the Commission to improve the framework for migration and asylum, develop efforts on the external dimension of migration and bilateral and multilateral police cooperation against cross-border crime.

So, today was not a festive meeting, but a working one. It also marked the entry into Air Schengen, but it was a working meeting and we will have these meetings regularly”, said Cătălin Predoiu.