12/07/2022 22:04 (act. 12/07/2022 22:10)
Karner wants to stop Romania and Bulgaria from entering the Schengen area ©APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT
On Thursday in Brussels, EU interior ministers will decide whether to expand the Schengen area to include Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. Although Croatia’s admission to the borderless Schengen area is considered safe, Austria, in particular, rejects the accession of Bulgaria and Romania. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) justifies the rejection with the high number of asylum applications in Austria and calls for more measures from the EU Commission.
With its veto announcement, Austria is virtually alone in the EU. The Netherlands has only expressed concern about Bulgaria, but has recently given the go-ahead for Romania and Croatia. Bulgaria threatened unspecified “countermeasures” if membership was rejected.
First, EU interior ministers will vote on Croatia’s admission on Thursday morning, after which a decision will be taken on enlargement to include Romania and Bulgaria. Existing Schengen members must unanimously agree to the admission of another country. In addition to the 22 EU member states, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein belong to the Schengen area. There are normally no stationary border controls in this area. Especially after the migration crisis of 2015, this principle was suspended by several countries, including Austria.