The President of the Court of Justice of the European Union: The file for the annulment of the decision to reject Romania's accession to Schengen must be resolved quickly

The President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Koen Lenaerts, believes that the file for the annulment of the decision to reject Romania's accession to the Schengen Area must be resolved quickly.

He says that the defense of the Union's external borders is everyone's problem.

Koen Lenaerts: From the very beginning I want to state that Romania's place is within the Schengen area. As such, the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area will have to happen as soon as possible. It is very clear that the case at the Court of Justice of the European Union must be resolved quickly. When you get a new state, such as Romania, it is as if all the borders within the Union open up, and the borders of the internal states can easily be crossed by people and goods from the member states. Also, the external borders of the Union, their defense becomes a problem for everyone. When Romania and Bulgaria enter the Schengen zone, the defense of the borders of the European Union automatically becomes a problem for everyone, not just the border states.

Translated by: Radu Matei