NewsEuropeAustria opposes incorporating Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia into the Schengen area

Austria opposes incorporating Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia into the Schengen area

Archive – Gerhard Karner, Minister of the Interior of Austria – Hans Klaus Techt/APA/dpa – Archive

The Government of Austria has confirmed its opposition to the incorporation of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia into the area without Schengen borders, just a few days after the European Commission defended that the three countries more than meet the criteria established for the entry of new partners.

The formal proposals for their entry into Schengen have been on the table of the Twenty-seven for some time – in the case of Romania and Bulgaria eleven years – but the reservations of some countries have slowed down the process, which is already in its last phase.

The Austrian Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, has declared to the newspaper ‘Kurier’ that he sees it as “inopportune” to open Schengen to new partners at a time when “the system of external borders does not work”. Austria receives part of the migration that enters Europe through what is known as the Balkan route.

The potential entry of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia will be put to a vote at the meeting of EU interior ministers on December 8. The European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johanson, stated this week that “it is time to welcome them” and the European Parliament has also endorsed this step.

According to the processes processed, the ministers will examine the entry of Bulgaria and Romania in a single decision and, in a second separate one, that of Croatia. The unanimous support of all European governments is required, so for now the result seems uncertain, given the misgivings that the Netherlands has also shown.

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