Mixed reactions to possible relaxation of Schengen veto

2023-12-10 20:03:00

While Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Nikolaj Denkow were pleased about the move, Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev was reserved. According to reports, Karner agreed that the limits could be lowered, at least in air traffic.

The land borders would retain their current status, Bulgaria and Romania would not officially be Schengen members. A spokesman for the Interior Minister confirmed corresponding reports from the “Kurier” and the “Kleine Zeitung” (Sunday editions) on Saturday evening in response to an APA request. One condition for this would be stricter border controls, the reports continue. Karner is traveling to Slovenia on Monday to discuss on the sidelines of a meeting with representatives of these countries what conditions would have to be met for Austria to agree to the so-called “Air Schengen”. The consultations are scheduled to take place on Tuesday as part of the “Salzburg Forum” in Brdo Pri Kranju.

Increased border protection as a condition

The “Kurier” mentions the conditions envisaged by Austria: a three-fold increase in the Frontex operation in Bulgaria, money for the border protection infrastructure must flow from the EU Commission; increased border controls between Bulgaria and Romania and between Hungary and Romania; the dispatch of document consultants from Austria to the airports in Bucharest and Sofia; the acceptance of asylum seekers by Romania and Bulgaria, especially Afghans and Syrians.

The “Krone” also reported on Karner’s “secret plan”. From a purely legal perspective, the plan would not be problematic, European lawyer Walter Obwexer from the University of Innsbruck told the newspaper. The increase for Frontex has already been decided, the acceptance of asylum seekers is compatible with Union law – and: “The Schengen Border Code allows the gradual abolition of identity checks at internal borders. So at airports, for example.”

Radev sees step forward

Radev told reporters on Sunday that Bulgaria could join the so-called “air Schengen,” according to Bulgarian news agency BTA. He added that while this was a step forward, Bulgaria needed to be very careful so as not to be tagged with “Here you go – Bulgaria is now in Schengen.”

The stronger border controls that Sofia has been able to enforce are a win for both Bulgaria and Europe, said Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov in a television interview broadcast on bTV on Sunday. According to him, the number of attempts to cross the Bulgarian border illegally has decreased by half in recent months and the difference is visible to everyone. “As far as border controls are concerned, we are open [für Kontrollen] – there are now Frontex officers on the ground, we are working with Austrian and Dutch services, so there is nothing that worries us,” he said. “As far as receiving migrants is concerned, there are European rules and we will “We stick to them,” added Denkow.

“We broke the ice!”

Romanian Prime Minister Ciolacu also reacted happily. “We have broken the ice! Austria has softened its position on the Schengen area and agreed to abolish the air borders for Romania,” Ciolacu wrote on Facebook late Saturday evening, according to BTA. According to Ciolacu, the Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu should now bring the negotiations to a “successful conclusion”.

However, Ciolacu’s predecessor, Senate President Nicolae Ciuca from the co-governing Liberals, called for “caution.” Karner’s announcement is definitely “encouraging”, but the conditions set must be examined. The position of the Netherlands regarding Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen also needs to be determined, said Ciuca. A decision would be possible at an extraordinary meeting of the EU interior ministers by the end of the year.

“Certainly no reason to celebrate”

Liberal MEP Dacian Ciolos said that Karner’s announcement was “certainly no reason to celebrate” and that Romanian citizens wanted to know when the EU country would “finally join the Schengen area with land borders.” He called for a “clear roadmap”.

Neos EU MP Claudia Gamon described the federal government’s behavior as “just embarrassing”. “Romania and Bulgaria meet all the criteria for joining Schengen. The fact that Karner now wants to negotiate for something that they are already entitled to is an impudence. Romania and Bulgaria do not owe us anything,” it said in a statement.

The Freedom Party also criticized the federal government. The Schengen veto is a “PR-motivated deception,” said FPÖ security spokesman Hannes Amesbauer in a broadcast. “Karner’s about-face is a continued betrayal of his own population and a planned fall over in installments in order to be able to wave through the Schengen expansion in the end,” he warned.