Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu called Romania ‘a security provider’ for Europe on the afternoon it was announced that Austria had lifted a yearlong-held veto to Romania and Bulgaria joining the coveted Schengen passport-free zone.
The announcement was made during a meeting in Budapest attended by the Bulgarian and Romanian interior ministers, ending years of friction and resentment with Austria. Hungary currently holds the EU rotating presidency and had promised to resolve the issue which has cost countries billions in trade.
“Romania is a security provider for Europe and Romania’s entry into the Schengen Area will strengthen the Schengen area,” he said, thanking his European colleagues for their cooperation and support.
The deal means checks at internal land borders are abolished, the last remaining obstacle. In March, passport checks at sea and air borders were permanently removed.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, welcomed the news, saying Romania and Bulgaria “belong fully” to the Schengen area. “Let 2025 see Schengen become stronger,” she said.
The three ministers signed a “joint agreement” and made a statement that highlights “progress” made in curbing irregular migration and asylum claims across the three countries, and includes a pledge to speed up deportations of rejected applicants.
The minster’s message in full:
“I thank Minister Sandor Pinter for the hospitality with which he received us and organized this important meeting. Of course, I would like to thank my fellow ministers and friends, Sandor Pinter, Gerhard Karner, Atanas Ilkov. Of course, I would like to thank Commissioner Ilva Johansson, because we all made this meeting possible.
It was very important for all of us that this meeting resulted in an agreement and that it was a success on our way to enlarging the Schengen Area with the land borders of Romania and Bulgaria. And after substantial discussions, as my colleague and friend Sandor Pinter said, we reached an agreement. The meeting is a success.
Our objective, Romania’s, at this meeting was to create the conditions for a positive decision at the JHA Council in December. It was to create the conditions for the Austrian veto to be lifted, so that we have a decision this year, 2024. And I think it was a common goal, including that of my colleague and friend Gerhard Karner. It was important for everyone to be comfortable, that the very good work done by the Romanian and Bulgarian border guards, together with their colleagues from Serbia, Hungary, Austria, this very good work that was the basis of the road we traveled, will continue even after Romania and Bulgaria enter the Schengen Area with the land borders.
Romania is a security provider in Europe and Romania’s entry into the Schengen Area will strengthen the Schengen area. We have proven this with figures and with the measures taken. Our work was carried out in cooperation with the European Commission, with Austrian colleagues, with Hungarian, Serbian and Bulgarian colleagues, through bilateral programs, investments we made in border protection technology from the Romanian budget, but also from European money and from the very good professional training of Romanian border guards.
We have allocated a lot of energy to raising this level of professional training and strengthening a mentality of responsibility towards the safety of the Romanian citizen, towards the security of the Romanian borders and, implicitly, of the European ones.
These were the elements that strengthened our trust, trust that we have built step by step, together with Mr. Gerhard Karner, since last year, since the meeting of August 23 in Vienna, which we have built together with Sandor Pinter, with Minister Atanas Ilkov, with his predecessor, Kalin Stoianov, obviously with Mrs. Johansson, with all our colleagues in Europe.
This trust will be the basis of the way forward and the decision that will be made. It was important to build this trust on results on the field, not on promises, not on words, not on speeches, but on the results worked on in the field. And I would like to conclude by saying that I am very proud of the work done by the Romanian border guards, in cooperation with their colleagues. We will rely on them further and after the moment of entry into the Schengen Area.
We agreed today on a package of measures to strengthen borders. We will also contribute, together with the other countries, including Bulgaria, to the joint contingent of 100 border guards that will be deployed on the Turkish-Bulgarian border and, obviously, to the other police cooperation measures, which, by the way, we are carrying out, there is nothing new here. We are only committed to continuing what we have done well so far.
So, I think it has been a good job that we have done and I thank once again my colleagues and friends, the ministers, the Commissioner. We remain focused on our work, both in the field and in the diplomatic chancelleries, we remain in contact and as my colleague and friend Gerhard Karner said, there is one last bridge to be crossed. But, I would like to complete. Today, in Budapest, we crossed a very important bridge together and I think this is a goal achieved for us. We all wanted this”.
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