Brussels, 13/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a cautious response to the possible accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area in March 2011. Merkel was in Bucharest on Tuesday for a meeting with President Traian Basescu and Prime Minister Emil Boc where she recognised that Romania had undertaken courageous reforms in justice and home affairs but underlined that “you are not yet at the end of the road… for German investors, transparency in this area is very important”. The German Chancellor added that “we support any approaches to join the Schengen area” but added that with regard to accession, only objective technical criteria would be taken into account. She said that it was necessary to ensure that “granting visas at Romania's borders was done without corruption or illegality”. The same tone was adopted in Sofia where Merkel provided assurances on Monday to President Gueorgui Parvanov and Prime Minister Boïko Borisov that Germany's decision regarding accession to the Schengen area would be “honest and objective”. The Chancellor assured the two countries that the question of integrating the Roma would play no role in the two countries' accession prospects. (B.C./transl.fl)