The interior minister of Austria, Gerhard Karner, has "softened his position" on the issue of Schengen and now agrees with the so-called "Air Schengen" for the membership of Bulgaria and Romania under certain conditions, reported "Romania Insider".
The results of the proposal remain uncertain, given the still-undefined specifications that could make the difference between real progress or another obstacle on the way to full Schengen membership.
Among other things, Austria would like both countries to accept asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Syria who entered the country via different routes. Also, some future intra-Schengen borders should be "consolidated" as a condition for "Air Schengen" - although they should be abolished after full membership is achieved.
Austrian Minister Karner remains against full accession of the two countries to the Schengen area due to "concerns related to illegal migration". He stated that the abolition of land border controls is subject to separate discussions.
Under the proposed partial membership of the Schengen area, the screening requirements for passengers traveling from Romanian and Bulgarian airports to airports in the Schengen area and vice versa will be waived. However, the biggest problems faced by transport companies or passengers are at ground checkpoints where vehicles have to wait for hours.
In addition, the Minister of the Interior mentioned several conditions for agreeing to the membership of the two countries in the "Air Schengen". The final form of the agreement will be discussed by Austria with the two candidate countries in Slovenia on December 12 at the Salzburg Forum - the meeting of the Central European Partnership in the field of security.
Apart from the condition of accepting refugees, Bulgaria must at least triple the Frontex staff on the border with Turkey; Romania and Bulgaria should receive more funds to strengthen their external borders; and the land borders between Bulgaria and Romania and Romania and Hungary "must be strengthened". "The big step was from "no" to "yes", but let's see under what conditions," Interior Minister Katalin Predoyu said in turn.
"Austria's conditions are conditions with which we are familiar and which we will discuss. Some of them help Romania to protect its national territory. The rest we need to consider more thoroughly," he added.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev was more direct. "The conditions that the Austrian minister sets are unacceptable for Bulgaria". "It is critically important for us to open the land borders," added the Bulgarian president. /BGNES
