Brussels, 04/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - Germany is to oppose the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, the country's home affairs minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, stated on Sunday 3 March in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel. Amongst other things, the minister said that the countries' efforts against corruption were still inadequate and that he would oppose any request by these two countries on Thursday, at the meeting of the home affairs ministers of the EU, which will feature Schengen enlargement on its agenda.
“If Romania and Bulgaria insist on a vote (at the meeting), the attempt will fail due to Germany's veto”, Friedrich stated. Nor will the option of taking account only of entry via ports and airports be discussed, he added. “The expansion of the Schengen area can be accepted by citizens only if the fundamental conditions are met. That is not currently the case”, the German minister stressed, stating that he did not feel that Sofia and Bucharest were fighting corruption with sufficient stringency.
Romania and Bulgaria have been down to join Schengen since early 2011, but France and Germany already officially opposed their accession then, and were subsequently joined in this view by the Netherlands. The political crisis in Romania in summer 2012 has not helped the two countries' cause, as their Schengen destiny is linked to this.
When asked about the statements made by the German minister, Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Sunday that his country was not abandoning the idea of joining Schengen but that it had to join it in a more dignified and healthier way, according to Romanian media reports.
The leader of the S&D Group in the European Parliament, Austria's Hannes Swoboda, has spoken out against this initiative by Friedrich, describing it as “populist” and “disappointing”. The S&D Group, for its part, supports this enlargement of Schengen, in which the progress has been assessed. “It appears that the German government wants to divide the countries of the EU into first-class and second-class countries”, lamented Swoboda, who hopes that the ministers will act “responsibly”. (OL/transl.fl)