This follows calls by Austrian Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner for the two countries to become full members.
For the past two years, Austria has blocked the full admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, which guarantees the free movement of people and goods within the European Union.
The argument then was that too many refugees were reaching Austria via the route through the Western Balkans. In the past year, the rules have been relaxed somewhat and free entry and exit by air and sea has been made possible.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the situation has improved even further since then.
At a hearing in Parliament, Karner said: 'We are currently working on this. We are now seeing that the number of illegal migrations through these countries has reduced significantly. This means that we are on the right track, but we have not yet reached the end of the road."
He added that as a result of the veto, Austria had been able to achieve significant improvements in border protection and return of migrants, but the aim was to drive illegal migration towards zero.
Romanian MEP Victor Negrescu recently announced that Romania is on the "final straight" for Schengen membership, outlining three possible scenarios: a decision taken this year, longer-term negotiations with the new European Commission and a possible delay as a result of the political situation in Bulgaria.
In the meantime, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said he believes Romania could fully join the Schengen area by spring 2025, with the decision to be taken before the second round of presidential elections on 8 December.
Ciolacu said the process could be finalised by December and implementation could start in March next year. This change would allow Romanians to cross EU land borders without checks until Easter 2025.
Negotiations on the enlargement of the Schengen area are making "good progress", as recently announced by the Austrian-appointed Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner, during his hearing in the EU Parliament. It therefore seems that an agreement is possible.
A breakthrough could be achieved at the meeting involving the two countries in Hungary on 22 November. | BGNES
