Romania's accession to Schengen and the acquisition of dual citizenship by Romanians from Spain

Producer: Gabriela Mitrovici - Our country's accession to the Schengen area, border security and the amendment of legislation, so that Romanians who acquire Spanish citizenship do not lose their Romanian one, were all topics of discussion between Prime Ministers Nicolae Ciuca and Pedro Sanchez, at the joint meeting of Government which took place yesterday in the Spanish city of Castellon. Our envoy, Andrei Serban, comes with details.

Correspondence from Castellon - Reporter: Andrei Serban - The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, thanked the over one million Romanians living in his country for their contribution to the development of Spain and believes that they have integrated very well into the Spanish society. These are the reasons why, today, at the first joint meeting of the Romanian and Spanish governments, the two prime ministers decided to set up a working group to find the means by which Romanians in Spain can receive Spanish citizenship, without losing their Romanian one, as it is now. "The political signal is very important," said Petro Sanchez.

Petro Sanchez: What I want to say now is that the Government of Spain and the Government of Romania propose to start working towards obtaining this dual citizenship, and this is an extraordinary, extremely important political message. I want to emphasize the fact that when this happens - and it will certainly happen - Romania will be the third country in Europe with which we have this type of alliance and this type of recognition.

Reporter: For his part, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca thanked his Spanish counterpart and stated that the Romanians in Spain deserve this, and the moment when this will happen is not far away.

Nicolae Ciuca: The notion of time will probably not be very distant. When the line ministries go to work, I am convinced that, having already created two models, they will find the procedure so as to reach an agreement in the shortest time possible.

Reporter: Another topic discussed at the joint meeting of the Spanish and Romanian governments was Spain's support for Romania's integration into the Schengen area.

Translated by: Radu Matei