The Hungarian presidency of the EU Council has asked that Romania and Bulgaria become full members of the Schengen Zone by the end of this year, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban said in the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg as part of the debate on the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency.
“Illegal migration and security threats have led to a permanent and extensive withdrawal of border controls. I think it is time to address this issue at the highest political level and discuss whether we have the political will necessary for the real functioning of the Schengen area. The Hungarian presidency makes a proposal: let’s create a system of Schengen summits. Let’s regularly convene Schengen summits, with the participation of heads of state and government from the Schengen area. This type of summits worked during the economic crisis of 2008-2009. (…) I see that today the Schengen area is in a similar crisis, so a similar political commitment would be necessary here, the Schengen Summit and then institutionalization with an international treaty. (…) The Hungarian presidency does not only recommend that we consolidate and expand the Schengen area. The Hungarian presidency also recommends that Bulgaria and Romania fully join the Schengen area before the end of 2024”, Orbán specified.
The Schengen Area could fall apart due to illegal migration, he claims.
At the end of the speech, the MEPs of the EPP, S&D, Renew and the Greens mocked the Hungarian Prime Minister, humming the refrain of the Italian anti-fascist song “Bella, ciao!”, at which point Roberta Metsola, the President of the Parliament, reprimanded them, quipping that this was not a Eurovision contest.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev said that migration pressure had decreased by 71% since 2023. Speaking at the Consultative Council on National Security, the prime minister dismissed reports that about 100km of the Bulgarian-Turkish border fence was missing. Checks from the air and on the ground showed that the fence was in place, Glavchev reiterated.
This comes as Romania was lumped into Bulgaria’s border control problems and denied Schengen entrance.
Orbán also reiterated his call for accession of the Western Balkan countries to the EU. He said that several candidate countries meet the technical conditions, but there is no political unanimity, and promised to organize a summit on their integration. He said, “It’s the Hungarian Presidency’s firmly belief that we need to accelerate the accession of the Western Balkans. This is a key issue for Europe: integrating the Europe economically in terms of security and also geopolitically. It is advantageous for the European Union. We need to focus in particular on Serbia. Without Serbia joining the EU, we cannot stabilize the Balkans. As long as Serbia is not a Member of the European Union, the Balkans remain an unstable region.” Orbán says that it’s time to deliver on a European promise for the Western Balkans, although “cohesion policy is not about charity and it is not about handouts”.
Meanwhile, Romania and Bulgaria’s entrance into the Schengen space is most strongly opposed by the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), which stands in discord here with its long-time partner Fidesz.
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