Romanians protest for Schengen accession

Source: Schengen Visa Info

Hundreds of Romanians participated in the protest organized in Brussels by the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party to stop treating Romanians as second-class European citizens.

In addition, the protestors also urged the immediate accession of Romania to the Schengen Zone.

“Romania can no longer tolerate being treated as a second-rate state in Europe; we are tired of the decisions of the European bureaucracy that do not take into account the interests of Romanians”, one of the protesters pointed out in this regard.

The Balkan country has been attempting to become part of the borderless area of Schengen since 2007, but its finalization has been delayed by pretending that Romania still needs to work on better managing the situation in its borders.

In December last year, Romania’s joining the Schengen Zone was blocked by Austria after the latter’s authorities’ illegal migrant concerns.

Remaining outside the Schengen Area brings notable damages to road carriers as well, among others. The General Secretary of the National Union of Road Transporters from Romania (UNTRR), Radu Dinescu, said that the total cost recorded by road carriers increased to €2.41 billion, thus accounting for a penalty of nearly 30 percent of the time lost.

Last month, over 100 youth organizations from Europe urged for Romania as well as Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Zone.

According to organizations’ representatives, the absence of both these Balkan states to Schengen has several negative consequences manifested on several layers in the lives of young people.

Still, Austria’s position will remain unchanged when it comes to both Balkan countries’ accession to Schengen. Recently, the Foreign Minister of Austria, Alexander Schallenberg, said that the country would maintain its veto against further expansion of the EU’s Schengen Zone until a sustained decrease in asylum seekers is noted.

Last month, Spain’s Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, in a meeting held with his counterpart from Austria, Gerhard Karner, urged the latter’s authorities to unblock the full accession of Romania to Schengen Zone.

But, during his visit to Romania’s capital on April 26, the Austrian Interior Minister said that Romania’s accession to the borderless area of Schengen cannot yet be set.

Still, the President of Romania, Alexander Van der Bellen, showed that he has a different opinion when it comes to this issue. Unlike the country’s Chancellor and Interior Minister, Romania’s President emphasized the fact that Romania met all the needed requirements for this process to be finalized.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, last month, said that his country wants Romania in the Schengen Zone this year.