Forward one, all stopped for two more. L’Schengen areathe inner-European area of free transit without a passport requirement will be expanded to include this from January 1, 2023 Croatia, exactly ten years after its accession to the European Union (on July 1, 2013). Instead, at least for the moment, there is nothing to be done, e.g Romania and Bulgariawho have belonged to the EU since 2007. The European Commission had spoken positively about the integration of the two former Soviet states into the Schengen area, but two EU member states stood in the way: theAustriawho today vetoed the accession of both nations, and theHolland, which spoke out alone against the integration of Bulgaria. The positions were made official during the Council of Interior Ministers EU today in Brussels. As unanimity is required for any expansion of the Schengen area, Sofia and Bucharest remain outside for the time being. Instead, Croatia is celebrating after the council unanimously approved its “promotion” to the free transit area.
pic.twitter.com/X6rgKVKOFu— Croatia in the EU (@CroatiaInEU) December 8, 2022
lost fight
“Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania are technically ready to join Schengen, they have done everything we asked of them and more: the remaining doubts are of a political nature. I therefore hope that common sense will prevail,” the Commission Vice-President announced this morning Margaritis Schinas, echoing Brussels’ arguments: “The EU is stronger when Schengen is expanded: that means more control, not less. Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania stand ready to protect our borders and it would be unfair not to give them the opportunity they deserve.” A Diplomatic pressing was directed primarily against Austria, which the governments of Italy and France had also joined in the morning. “We are in favor of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia” joining the Schengen area, Rome’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said from Vienna. And the French government itself had coldly announced it in the past through the interior minister Gerald Darmanin to be in the same position, considering that the accession of Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen “is a significant step in the administration of Balkan route» and «also important for the asylum and migration pact». Germany, too, had made it clear in the past few weeks that it was in favor of full enlargement.
Some say no
A diplomatic offensive that has proved useless, at least for now. Austria has used its veto to block enlargement to include Romania and Bulgaria, while the Netherlands has opposed the latter. The Austrian Federal Chancellor explained the reasons for the election Karl Nehammer, who has led the centre-right FPÖ and the government since the resignation of his predecessor Sebastian Kurz a year ago. Vienna, explained Nehammer, only has to welcome 2022 75,000 irregular migrants, a number that “represents a security issue that we cannot reverse.” Most of them come from the “Balkan route”, which is currently the busiest route through south-eastern Europe for migrants seeking their fortune in Europe. According to Frontex, there were 128,000 illegal crossings on this route in the first ten months of the year, an increase of 168% versus 2021. But it is the government in Bucharest itself that is railing against the Austrian argument that Romania is not part of the Balkan route and would be perfectly capable of it anyway manage their external borders, as evidenced by numerous reports from both the European Commission and independent experts. Leave a window open for a can review of the decision however, it was Nehammer himself who proposed a five-point plan to strengthen Schengen and asked that discussions on Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession be postponed until next August.
Without Borders
Signed in 1985 by France, Germany and the Benelux countriesSchengen Agreement to abolish border controls, it has gradually become an integral part of the EU treaties since 1999 and is one of the More familiar symbols of European integration. They are still there today, before Croatia’s accession 26 countriesoverall facilitates the movements of almost 420 million inhabitants. Besides Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria, only Cyprus and Ireland have been excluded from EU member states so far: the former due to the internal conflict that still divides the island in two; the second for an explicit opt-out request made years ago. Outside the EU but included in the Schengen area, they are instead Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein.
Photo: EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomes Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic in Brussels – October 20, 2022.
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