Austria sets 'accepting asylum seekers' as condition for Schengen accession

While Bulgaria and Romania announced that they had reached an agreement with Austria for accession to the Schengen Area by air and sea, the Vienna administration responded that "negotiations are ongoing" and stated that the two countries must accept asylum seekers for their accession.

One day after Romania and Bulgaria announced that they had reached an agreement in principle with Austria for accession to the Schengen Area by air and sea, the Austrian Ministry of the Interior issued a statement saying that "negotiations are continuing."

The conditions set by the Ministry of the Interior for the two countries to be included in Schengen include, in particular, the acceptance of asylum seekers by Romania and Bulgaria, including those arriving from Afghanistan and Syria.

Furthermore, these conditions include increasing Frontex operations in Bulgaria and controls at land borders, as well as receiving financial support from the EU Commission to strengthen controls at land borders.

The Ministry emphasized that there are no ongoing negotiations for the two countries to join Schengen via land borders and, therefore, there is no planned date.

In Austria, where general elections are to be held in September 2024, the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) appears to be leading in the polls.

BULGARIA AND ROMANIA'S SCHENGEN DEADLOCK

The efforts of EU members Bulgaria and Romania to join the Schengen Area are being blocked by Austria and Hungary.

After Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov requested approval for his country and Romania to join Schengen during his visit to Austria in October, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer replied, "The expansion of the Schengen area is unthinkable at this stage."

Hungary, for its part, had announced that it would veto Bulgaria's entry into the Schengen Area unless it lifted the additional tax it imposed on Russian natural gas reaching the country via the TurkStream pipeline.

While the objections of Hungary and Austria continue, the Dutch Parliament gave the green light for Bulgaria's inclusion in the Schengen Area in a vote.

Bulgaria and Romania announced yesterday that they had reached an agreement in principle with Austria on accession to the Schengen Area by air and sea, and that negotiations would continue for accession via land borders.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu also pointed to 2024 for the negotiations on land borders to reach a conclusion.

Within the Schengen Area, which covers European Union countries except for Bulgaria, Romania, and Ireland, as well as Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, there are no border controls except for exceptions.

News Source: AA