PM Citu: Romania Is Fully Prepared to Join Schengen Zone

Prime Minister Florin Citu of Romania stressed that his country is completely prepared to be part of the Schengen Borderless Region.

Citu’s comment came during his conversation with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

“I had a telephone conversation with the prime minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte. We analyzed the promising prospects for cooperation between Romania and the Netherlands, focusing on strengthening economic relations and boosting political dialogue,” Citu pointed out through a statement published on its Facebook account.

He added that Romania’s legitimate goal of joining the Schengen Zone “was one of the key points reached in discussion with prime minister Rutte, to whom I said that Romania is, without a doubt, fully prepared to enter the Schengen area.”

Romania’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Ion Marcel VELA discussed the country’s accession to the Schengen Zone, among other topics, with the European Commissioner for the Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson during a meeting held between them held in June.

Minister Vela stressed that one of the main objectives of Romania is to become part of the Schengen Zone.

The country is seeking to be part of the borderless area since June 2011; however, such a thing has not been completed yet.

Some European Union Member States such as France and the Netherlands have opposed Romania’s accession to the Schengen Zone, due to “the rule of law concerns“.

In May, the European Union Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said that she wants Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia to join the Schengen Area, stressing that the EU needs to strengthen and update Schengen.

Johansson’s comments came amid the Coronavirus outbreak, which pushed many countries to impose entry bans and travel restrictions to stop the virus’s further spread.

“We now need to get back to the future, back to normality. And we need to do so as soon as the health situation allows it,” the European Union Home Affairs Commissioner added.

During the European Union summit held in 2019, in Sibiu, the Dutch Prime Minister said that once Romania “complies with the rule of law and democracy” would be ready for admission to the Schengen Zone.

Back in 2018, the European Parliament introduced a report backing the Schengen membership of Romania and Bulgaria