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The European institutions are preparing to welcome Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen in 2023. The entry into the Schengen area will be done in stages – from October with air borders, and by January 1, 2024, land border controls will also be eliminated, Euroactiv reports.
In July, the European Commission will publish a report under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, at the insistence of the Netherlands. The report is expected to be generally positive, acknowledging the political will to continue reforms.
Austria’s objections to Schengen expansion amid the refugee crisis have not abated, but Vienna is expected to stop using its veto if isolated. Last December, Austria and the Netherlands blocked Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen and Austria was the only country that opposed Romania’s entry.
Romania’s new prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, announced early last week in an interview with Euractiv that he has asked his ministers for a plan to convince Austria to lift its veto on Romania’s Schengen admission.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has tried hard to get European money to build a fence along the border between Bulgaria and Turkey, a proposal rejected by the European Commission.
Early this month, the EU Executive granted new financial assistance to Romania and Bulgaria for the implementation of pilot projects already launched for border management. The aid for Bulgaria is worth 45 million euros, and for Romania – 10.8 million euros.
Moreover, the European Commission welcomes the progress made in the past three months by both countries on compliance with asylum policy and the return of illegal immigrants, border management and international cooperation – progress that should allay Austria’s fears that Sofia and Bucharest are not doing enough to register illegal migrants .
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Good and at last. We go faster to holidays in Greece.
And lets get a bit political here: Bulgaria is finishing the border fence with Turkey. No more migrant pushing over from them.