Schengen is at the center of some last-minute official announcements, coming from Bucharest regarding the measures taken recently in relation to Austria, but also for Romania's accession to Schengen as quickly as possible, and this is because Catalin Predoiu talks below about the fact that The Border Police and the airports are prepared for March 31, 2024.
Schengen receives only our part, with the airports and ports, but Catalin Predoiu states that there is close cooperation between Romania and Austria so that the controls at the land borders are also lifted, an extension of the police cooperation between the two countries being proposed, in order to expedite the accession total in the Schengen Area, without land border controls.
Schengen has been the bone of contention between Austria and Romania for years, but for now encouraging news comes from Bucharest, which tells us that full accession is possible even from 2025, but it will take much more pressure on Karl Nehammer to give up to his ideas and facilitate access to the system for our country.
"So we are prepared for the application of this decision. At the same time, I want to say that the Border Police is not the only institution involved in the application of the Council's decision to extend the Schengen acquis, there are other institutions as well. Concretely, it is important that the airports are also prepared for the new procedures and the new flows inside the airport.
We are in permanent contact with the Austrian Ministry of Internal Affairs. I have had personal discussions with Minister Karner, at length, three times this year so far. I proposed to Minister Karner that we expand our collaboration beyond the Schengen topic and have a very solid international police cooperation platform with Austria."
