The controls at Croatia’s land borders with other Schengen countries are to be abolished at the beginning of next year. From spring there will be no more controls at the airports. Traveling to the country on the Adriatic should therefore be much easier for tourists. So far, travelers have often been stuck in traffic for hours in summer to get across the border. Croatia will also introduce the euro as a means of payment at the beginning of 2023.
The joy in Croatia was great given the decision. “There are no more borders on our way to Europe,” tweeted Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that both the citizens and the economy of Croatia would benefit from the elimination of border controls. According to him, 80 percent of goods and 75 percent of foreign guests come to Croatia from Schengen countries.
Analysis of Austria’s Schengen veto
ORF correspondent Raffaela Schaidreiter discusses the scope of Austria’s veto and why the criticism is so loud.
Disappointment in Romania and Bulgaria
Romania and Bulgaria, on the other hand, suffered major disappointments. Austria in particular blocked their admission to the Schengen area. The current Czech Council Presidency tried to reach a decision for all three countries with several compromise proposals – but ultimately without success. EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson spoke of a “day of disappointment”.
The existing Schengen members must unanimously agree to the admission of another country. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) justified Austria’s rejection of Romania and Bulgaria’s accession with the high number of asylum applications in Austria and called for further measures by the EU Commission.
There were more than 100,000 illegal border crossings to Austria this year, 75,000 of which were not registered, the interior minister said before the meeting. Further evidence that the system is currently not working are the numerous controls at the internal borders in the Schengen area. Karner spoke out in favor of postponing the vote on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania: “Now is not the right time to take this step.”
criticism from Bucharest
However, the other EU countries see things differently. The Netherlands had only expressed concerns with regard to Bulgaria, but signaled the green light for Romania and Croatia. Sharp criticism of Austria’s veto comes from the affected countries. Romania’s Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca (Liberal Party/PNL) stated in an initial reaction on Thursday that “with the best will in the world I cannot understand the inflexibility of the Austrian federal government”. Vienna argued with “completely wrong numbers”.
Ciuca said Austria had disappointingly rejected all proposed solutions and compromises. Nevertheless, his country will not give up – on the contrary, they are even more motivated, especially since all other EU states have spoken out in favor of Romania’s Schengen membership, said Ciuca.
Bulgaria: veto politically motivated
Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Ivan Demerdschiev described the veto by Austria and the Netherlands against Schengen accession as politically motivated. “We do not want to take any countermeasures at the moment,” Demerdzhiev said in Brussels after the Bulgarian government had previously threatened to do so.
“Austria has signaled that it is willing to compromise,” said Demerdzhiev. There are options that Bulgaria has floated, including mixed border patrols with Austrian border guards, the interior minister said. “In contrast to Austria, it’s more difficult with the Netherlands,” he said.
“Not only would I have wished for a different decision today, in which Bulgaria and especially Romania would also be included in the Schengen area, but it is a serious disappointment,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Beaerbock (Greens). “I think that the fact that things have changed because of the Austrian veto and this forced decision is more than wrong in terms of European politics and geopolitics.”
Nehammer: Postpone the decision
As recently as Wednesday evening, Romania had tried unsuccessfully to persuade Austria to change its mind. The Romanian MEP Eugen Tomac said after the EPP parliamentary group meeting in Vienna that Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) had rejected “every rational argument”, according to Tomac. Romania’s Prime Minister Ciuca also tried to change Nehammer’s mind in a telephone call.
Only Croatia will become a new Schengen country
The way for Croatia’s accession to the Schengen area without border controls is open. However, Austria and the Netherlands are blocking the admission of Bulgaria and Romania.
Nehammer himself pleaded Wednesday evening at a joint press appearance with the EPP chairman, Manfred Weber, to postpone the decision until next autumn. The Chancellor repeated the arguments that the Schengen area is not working. If Austria, as a Schengen country, has already picked up 75,000 unregistered migrants this year, it is a “security issue that we cannot wipe away,” said Nehammer. At the same time, he pointed out that at the meeting of interior ministers on Thursday, the Netherlands “did not agree with Bulgaria”.
Weber expressed understanding for Austria’s concerns and concerns, but not for the veto. At a joint appearance with the Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger on Thursday, Weber said that the admission of Bulgaria and Romania would “strengthen the entire region”. That is why the largest European party family, to which Nehammer’s ÖVP also belongs, is in favor of expansion. Heger also stated that he considered the Austrian blockade to be counterproductive.
Criticism from SPÖ, NEOS and Karas
Criticism of Nehammer and Karner’s attitude came from SPÖ, NEOS and the green coalition partner. The government shot Austria into “European policy,” said NEOS MEP Claudia Gamon. Nehammer’s party colleague Othmar Karas (ÖVP), Vice President of the EU Parliament, said that a Schengen blockade would not help solve the number of asylum seekers and had nothing to do with it directly. Mixing the two is “irresponsible and unspeakable,” says Karas.
The Green Europe spokesman Michel Reimon wrapped his criticism of the attitude of the ÖVP in irony on Thursday: In the center of Europe are “the most important elections on the continent for at least five years”, the broadcast alludes to the upcoming state elections in Lower Austria. So it shows little political understanding to want to implement the expansion of the Schengen area at this point in time. “How is Europe supposed to function if it doesn’t take any federal structure into account?” Reimon said ironically.