The Vice-President of the European Parliament, Nicu Ştefănuţă, claims that the debate regarding Romania’s accession to Schengen has been inflamed artificially, electorally, and that there are no “clear steps” that show that there will be a favorable decision this year.
Nicu Ștefanuta claims that Romania will not enter Schengen this year PHOTO Archive
“I think there is a window of opportunity this fall and in the first half of next year. Why? Because we have two friendly presidents. Both Hungarians and Poles want Romania to enter Schengenboth some and others will put the subject on the agenda. So I think the time is next year (…)”, said Ştefănuţă during a briefing for Romanian journalists.
He said he also has “EVIDENCE” in this regard, among which he also mentioned the fact that there is an interim government in Austria.
“Until December, there is an interim government in Austria, the government of Mr. (Karl) Nehammer, which also includes the Greens, with whom we controlled the situation, and it is hard to imagine that an interim government will take steps for a Schengen enlargement, chose that they expressed their opposition in this direction”, said Stefanuta.
He stated that in the end Romania will fully accede to Schengen “because you can’t stay with one foot on the bus“, but he distanced himself from the optimism of his Romanian colleagues from the EPP group regarding a decision related to accession with land borders as early as 2024.
“These signals were also given in 2022, in the fall, with bells and whistles, and they did not materialize. So better less pre-election fuss and more delivered results”, said Ştefănuţă, elected independently in the EP but later affiliated to the Greens group.
“I understand, there are some good things that happened recently. For example, the program Visa Waiverin which Romania most likely enters from April. It is a success of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of Ambassador (Andrea) Muraru. It’s definitely a good thing. Let’s see if the same happens in Schengen. I have much more restrained signals“, said the EP vice-president.
