Accession of Bulgaria and Romania disputed

The interior ministers of the EU are to decide on the extension of the Schengen area on December 8th. Some member states have major reservations.

A Romanian border policeman at a crossing into the Vltava.

Vadim Ghirda / AP

The verdict of the EU Commission is clear. Two weeks ago, Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson declared that Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia met all the criteria for joining the Schengen area. There are no systematic identity checks at the border between the participating countries, which include 22 EU member states as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Schengen is one of the greatest achievements of the EU, said Johansson. She expects that at the next council of interior ministers on December 8th, all member states will agree to the admission of the three countries.

legal problems

However, this is exactly where the problem lies. The Commission and the European Parliament have been supporting the inclusion of the three Balkan states in the Schengen area for years. But individual member states are blocking themselves, especially against the accession of Romania and Bulgaria.

The most persistent criticism comes from the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden. In October, the Dutch parliament even called on the government not to agree to any admission for the time being. According to the parliamentary decision, corruption and organized crime in Bulgaria and Romania pose a threat to the security of the Netherlands and the EU.

Since 2011, Bucharest and Sofia have been put off on the Schengen issue with reference to their constitutional problems. There is no question that these problems exist. After the accession of the two states, Brussels even created its own control mechanism to monitor the development of the rule of law.

The fact that Bulgaria was released from this mechanism in 2019 and Romania a few weeks ago says little about the actual progress, but rather an admission of the ineffectiveness of the procedure. Ironically, the decision on Romania came almost simultaneously with the enactment of reforms that increase the possibilities for political influence in the judiciary.

The technical criteria are met

Nevertheless, the prevailing impression in Sofia and Bucharest is that the opposing states are less concerned with the question of the rule of law than with profiling themselves in domestic politics. The Netherlands is also stepping on the brakes on enlargement issues.

Bucharest has been pointing out for years that Schengen membership is linked exclusively to technical criteria, such as border security. The country has been doing this for a long time. Opposition circles in Romania, who would like the EU to put more pressure on the government’s course, have always criticized the connection with the Schengen issue.

An international commission of experts recently confirmed that the technical requirements have been met.

Beware of even more irregular migration

Of course, the issue is also about migration. The admission of Bulgaria and Romania would create an area stretching from the Turkish border to northern Europe without identity checks. In view of the already high level of irregular migration via the Balkans, this raises concerns in Austria, for example, that even more people could come to the country in the future.

A special focus falls on Bulgaria. So far, most migrants from Turkey have tried to get to the EU via Greece. Since this year, however, the pressure on the Bulgarian-Turkish border has increased significantly. The number of people apprehended has more than doubled since the beginning of the year. Sofia does not deny this, but says that Schengen membership also brings advantages in protecting the external border.

Sofia and Bucharest have launched diplomatic initiatives in recent weeks to promote their accession. There have been positive signals from Sweden, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. However, President Rumen Radew’s recent telephone conversation with Dutch Prime Minister Rutte has not yielded a breakthrough. According to a Dutch newspaper, Bulgaria and Romania have indicated that they will torpedo the Dutch candidate for the post at Frontex if The Hague does not give up its resistance to the Schengen issue.

The fact that Schengen might not work out again is causing some frustration in Sofia and Bucharest. For ordinary Bulgarians and Romanians, accession does not change much immediately. You have long been able to travel through Europe without a visa, and finding work is no problem either. However, the elimination of border controls would definitely have a positive effect on trade and economic life.

Croatia can hope

There is reason for optimism in Croatia. During his visit to Zagreb a week ago, Austrian Chancellor Nehammer praised the Croatian border guard and stated that Vienna had no reservations about Croatia’s accession. Croatia is very tough on irregular migrants at its border. There are repeated reports of push-backs and other violations of international law.

Above all, the economically important tourism sector would be given impetus by the inclusion in the Schengen area. In addition, the country would take two important integration steps in a short space of time. On January 1st, Croatia will adopt the euro as its official currency.

source site-111