The European People’s Party unanimously adopted, during its congress in Bucharest, the manifesto demanding Romania’s accession to the Schengen area as soon as possible, after the Austrian delegation of the ruling People’s Party refused to vote against it.
“Surprise at the Congress of the European People’s Party in Bucharest. The Austrian delegation did not vote against the electoral manifesto of the European People’s Party, which calls for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area as soon as possible. The manifesto was adopted unanimously. This vote shows that the blockade has been overcome and that, even if there were difficulties, we will overcome them and we will obtain Romania’s full accession to the Schengen area”, said Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureşan, vice-president of the EPP, in a press release on Wednesday evening.
In the manifesto adopted by the EPP it is mentioned that “we need full accession to Schengen for Bulgaria and Romania, by lifting as soon as possible not only the air and maritime controls, but also the controls at the land borders”.
“We need to fix the Schengen area, which is currently dysfunctional, in particular by further strengthening the protection of the EU’s external borders and by preventing illegal migration to Europe, in order to have a safe and complete Schengen area without internal border controls”, the document says.
Earlier, during the joint press conference held at the opening of the EPP Congress, Manfred Weber admitted that there is an “Austrian challenge” and stated that “in the EPP we have different opinions on some of the issues and it is absolutely democratic to express them”.
“One thing I want to convey clearly: the EPP supports the full expansion of the Schengen area, so Romania and Bulgaria should immediately join the Schengen area, they meet all the criteria”, Manfred Weber emphasized during the press conference of the PPE Congress, alongside the PNL president, Nicolae Ciucă.
Manfred Weber congratulated the Romanian “friends” for joining the Schengen area with sea and air borders from March 31. “The first step is now the accession with maritime and air borders, and we want to see Romania and Bulgaria accede to the Schengen zone as soon as possible. The EPP as a party is clear on this,” the EPP leader emphasized.
Weber also asked the socialists in Austria to consider a change of opinion “because they too are against granting Romania and Bulgaria full access to Schengen”. “So we have an Austrian challenge in front of us, we have to convince all the parties,” Weber said.
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