Austria Drops Opposition to Romania, Bulgaria Joining Schengen Zone

Austria announced on Monday that it is dropping its opposition to Romania and Bulgaria’s full accession to the Schengen area, the last obstacle for the two Eastern European countries after a long wait, AFP and Reuters report.

“We can move on to the next step at the EU (Justice and Home Affairs) Council,” Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said in a statement from his ministry. The JHA Council meeting will take place in Brussels this week, on December 12 and 13.

“We will not exercise our veto,” a spokesman for the Vienna Interior Ministry told AFP.

At the end of November, Austria had indicated its willingness to lift its veto on Romania and Bulgaria’s full accession to the Schengen free movement area.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country holds the six-monthly presidency of the EU Council, announced that EU interior ministers would vote on December 12 on Hungary’s proposal to allow Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen area with land borders. Austria vetoed the Schengen expansion two years ago, despite the European Commission’s recommendation, because it considered that the European Union’s external border was not well protected in Romania and Bulgaria against illegal immigration.

Romania and Bulgaria received partial access to the Schengen area starting March 31, with the opening of air and sea borders, but not land borders.