Brussels, 16/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Romanian Home Affairs Minister Ioan Rus is to travel to Portugal and France for discussions on his country's joining the Schengen area - an issue that has been complicated recently by domestic political dispute and the open war between the coalition of Prime Minister Victor Ponta and currently suspended President Traian Basescu. On Tuesday 17 July, Rus will meet his Portuguese counterpart Miguel Macedo, and on Wednesday, it will be on to Paris for meetings with French minister Manuel Valls. Romania has been hoping to join the Schengen area since March 2011 but has consistently met with the opposition of a number of countries, including the Netherlands, which, at the meeting of the JHA Council in September, will have to say whether or not it is prepared to lift its reservations. Any decision by ministers on Romania's entry to the Schengen area will remain conditional on the CVM reports which the Commission is preparing to publish on Wednesday, reports which could make reference to all the current concerns over Romania. (SP/transl.rt)