site.btaRomania in Talks with Austria in Bid to Secure Support for Full Schengen Accession

Romania's accession to the Schengen area was the main topic of discussion between Nicolae Ciuca, president of the National Liberal Party and the Romanian Senate, and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. The two conferred in Vienna on Monday, according to a post by Ciuca on X, formerly Twitter.

“I am confident that final decisions will be made at the technical level soon,” Ciuca wrote.

Romania’s Schengen accession was also on the top of the agenda of Monday's meeting between Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu and his Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner. In Vienna, the two discussed preparations for the interior ministers meeting scheduled to take place in Budapest on November 21 and 22 and address the full integration of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen area. This transpired from a post by Predoiu on Facebook and a press release by his Ministry.

Predoiu highlighted that the decision to lift Schengen air and sea border controls has been successfully implemented.

He added that with the help of the Interior Ministry and Border Police, they have significantly reduced illegal migration at their national borders. All bilateral agreements with Austria are being implemented and are yielding very good results, the Romanian Interior Minister said in his post.

During the meeting, Predoiu reaffirmed Romania's commitment to maintaining safe and effective border management practices and implementing all Schengen procedures.