Hungary supports Romania’s accession to the Schengen area

Conflicting reports have appeared in the media on the support of Hungary, which took over the EU presidency on January 1st.

There have been many similar signs, first in statements, then at an official level. France and Germany have explicitly required, through their ministers of Interior, at the end of the year, that the decision regarding Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area be discussed only when the two states start to show irreversible progress in the fight against corruption and organized crime.

A similar opinion of the minister of Interior in Hungary has circulated on Thursday, after German sources, namely the DPA agency, had written on Wednesday that the Hungarian Minister of Interior, Șandor Pinter, would have declared that Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area wouldn’t happen in March, but in October, at the earliest. The information was immediately taken over by the Romanian media, also.

It seems, however, that there was a mistake involved, since the authorities in Budapest say something else.

Romania and Bulgaria ‘worked hard’ to meet the Schengen requirements

The Hungarian Minister of Interior specifies that Minister Șandor Pinter answered several questions asked by a journalist on Wednesday, regarding Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area, and he showed that he was optimistic and he never considered any cause to be lost.

The Hungarian official stated then that Romania and Bulgaria have worked hard to meet the Schengen requirements: systems have been created, and the personnel of the police and the border police have participated in trainings and he added that the Hungarian authorities are aware of the point of view of France and Germany, but there is a series of legal steps to be taken.

The experts have completed their work, they discussed in the first instance about their opinions, which will be released to the public at the end of January. Having considered these opinions, the next step will have to be taken and they will have to discuss in the council what needs to be done so that Romania and Bulgaria join the Schengen area, the communiqué also says.

Minister Sandor Pinter also explained that we need 100 percent of the opinions and the votes of the Schengen members for the accession of Romania and Bulgaria.

According to the press release, the Hungarian Minister also stated that, in his opinion, no later than June, we should reach a political decision related to the tasks that need to be accomplished and the deadlines, so that the points of view of France and Germany can be changed.

The official press release in Budapest clearly states that Hungary grants, as always before, full support to Romania and Bulgaria for the accession to the Schengen area.

One of the main priorities of the Hungarian presidency of the European Union is the rapid accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, the documents also states.

The last evaluation report on the Schengen infrastructure, on January 14

‘There are still steps to take’, the Romanian Minister of Exterior, Teodor Baconschi, explains, in an interview conducted by the Radio Romania editor, Carmen Gavrilă.

‘I have received and I have on my desk the declaration of Minister Sandor Piter in Budapest, which confirms that the Hungarian presidency keeps the Schengen expansion on its agenda. It is, thus, a very constructive declaration, which does not ignore the Franco-German doubts on this topic, but it argues that, through interaction with the Hungarian Presidency, we will be able to establish a battle plan and we will soon be on a timetable’, the Minister of Exterior Teodor Baconschi says...

He states that the Hungarian presidency outlines that they are keeping their optimism about maintaining this timetable during the presidency that Budapest exerts.

‘In January, on the 14th, the Scheval group will present the last evaluation report on the Schengen infrastructure for Romania and Bulgaria. We need to obtain afterwards the approval from the European Parliament, which has a political weight in this respect. Next is the Sectoral Council on Justice and Home Affairs, in February. All 27 member states need to agree in this respect’, Teodor Baconschi said.

He also stated that, in case the consensus is not achieved in the JHA Council, a phasing plan of action will appear for the next steps.

If Bulgaria has technical issues, neither Romania will be able to accede, because we come ‘as a package’.

‘We need to see how the final evaluation of the Scheval report looks like, so we cannot make any statements until January 14. What is important is not to generalize a specific date. There are plenty of European Union member states that don’t belong to the Schengen area and this does not prevent them from fully functioning’, the Romanian Minister of Exterior also said.

Translated by: Manuela Stancu and Andreea Velicu

MA Students, MTTLC, Bucharest University