Romania and Bulgaria do not stop after the Austrian veto of Schengen: the President of the Romanian Parliament addresses Karl Nehammer directly.
Croatia will join the Schengen area and the Eurozone on January 1, 2023. However, the path to Schengen membership has been blocked for Bulgaria and Romania by the veto of Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP). Since then, the decision has been criticized and hotly debated by many quarters.
As a result of the decision, Romania reduced diplomatic relations with Austria and dismissed the Romanian ambassador to Austria. There were also a series of public letters to Austrian decision makers – above all to Karner and Chancellor Karl Nehammer. Now Nehammer is being asked again by the President of the Romanian Parliament, Marcel Ciolacu, to say yes to his country’s accession to Schengen. The letter was published in Politico on Thursday.
In the letter in English, the politician emphasized above all how Romania is involved in the context of the crisis in Ukraine. The veto and with it the temporary end of the abolition of border controls “not only weakens our country, but also Europe as a whole, while emboldening the allied forces against us”, said the speaker of parliament.
“stay together”
“A growing Schengen (area) can further unite Europe, both practically and symbolically, promote democracy, promote economic reconstruction and strengthen our collective security against growing foreign threats,” he argues.
Romania has sacrificed a lot to help the neighboring country in a state of emergency: “To fight the rising tide of authoritarianism, democracies must remain united and strengthen the ties that unite them. Therefore, I call on Chancellor Nehammer to do the right thing and to take his government’s decision to resume”.
Nav-Account ff Time 22.12.2022, 21:43 | Act: 12.22.2022, 21:45