Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu: It is not at all fair to be only partially integrated into the Schengen area
Articol de Radiojurnal, 04 Martie 2024, 19:33
Romania is ready to join the Schengen area of free movement with land borders as well, and can demonstrate this with figures and concrete results, says Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu.
He is attending the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels today, with two major topics on the agenda: combating illegal migration and drug trafficking.
On this occasion, the Interior Minister signed a new cooperation framework for border management with his Bulgarian counterpart and the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, and the two countries, Romania and Bulgaria, have an additional €85 million available for capacity building.
At the meeting in Brussels, Catalin Predoiu also said that Romania is at the forefront of European states that have implemented the Dublin Agreement regulations, seen as the cornerstone of the European asylum system:
Catalin Predoiu: Romania reduced migration by about 60% last year. For example, on the border with Serbia, thanks to a pilot programme, we have reduced migration to almost zero. Only 40 people crossed the border illegally last year. Today we signed a joint letter with EU Commissioner Johansson to continue these pilot projects and we are ready to share our expertise with Member States. So if we look at the situation on the ground, we see that Romania could strengthen the Schengen area and it is not fair at all to be only partially integrated into the Schengen area.
At the end of this month, Romania and Bulgaria will partially join the Schengen area, with air and sea borders.
Translated by: Radu Matei
