The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area, "priority for the presidency of Spain at the Council of the European Union"

Producer: The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Schengen free movement area is a priority for Spain's presidency of the Council of the European Union, claims the Spanish ambassador in Bucharest, Jose Antonio Hernandez Perez-Solorzano. His Excellency also states that consensus needs to be reached by the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in October.

Jose Antonio Hernandez Perez-Solorzano: The priority of our presidency is for Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen Area. We are therefore working to reach consensus between Member States, especially with the JAI Commission. The idea we're working on is to bring this topic to the board in October, but we can't say a deadline. The point is that it is on the agenda to reach consensus by that time.

For his part, the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminita Odobescu, assures that accession to Schengen remains a priority foreign policy objective for the Bucharest authorities.

Luminita Odobescu: Our objective is obviously to succeed in gathering the consensus, we enjoy the support of the European Commission, the support of the European Parliament, the support of the majority of the member states. In the dialogue with the Austrian side, work has already been done on a plan of measures to support, without linking the subjects, the actual migration to the accession to the Schengen Area. We wanted to show that we are constructive and involved at European level in supporting efforts to combat illegal migration.

Earlier this month, Spain took over the six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union. Promoting the reindustrialization of Europe, progress in the ecological transition, as well as strengthening the social pillar and strengthening European unity are the four priorities assumed by Madrid.

Translated by: Radu Matei