EU countries officially approved Croatia’s accession to the Schengen area. On Thursday, December 8, the Prime Minister of the Republic Andrei Plenkovic wrote on Twitter.
“Croatia has the unanimous support of the Home Affairs and Justice Council – we become a member of the Schengen Agreement from 1 January 2023,” Plenkovic said.
This information was confirmed by representatives of the Czech Republic. “Thanks to the Czech Presidency, the Schengen area is expanding for the first time in over 10 years. Ministers approved Croatia’s membership from 1 January 2023.
Similar applications also from Romania and Bulgaria rejected. Their decision has been postponed.
In particular, the Dutch and Austrian authorities did not support Bulgaria, as, according to their estimation, this country has not yet met the conditions for joining Schengen.
As Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner explained, Vienna does not support the applications of Sofia and Bucharest due to the increasing illegal border crossings.
On the other hand, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson stated that the European Commission was disappointed with today’s decision. According to him, Bulgaria and Romania “deserve to enter Schengen for a long time.”
On 16 November, the EC announced the readiness of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia to join the Schengen area and recommended that the European Council approve this decision.
In the European Parliament, maintaining border controls has been termed discrimination against citizens of Bulgaria and Romania, as it makes it difficult for workers to move around in other EU member states and to exchange goods and services in the common market.
Currently, the Schengen area includes 26 countries with a unified border control system: these are 22 EU countries, as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said earlier that Vienna wants to delay the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen area until autumn 2023, due to the increasing flow of illegal immigrants to the country.
Restore the tourist flow
Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian Council for International Relations, said that after Croatia joins the Schengen area, it may ease visa restrictions to increase the flow of tourists.
“They will be interested in restoring the tourist flow. Therefore, joining the Schengen area can contribute to easing restrictions.” TASS.
Kortunov added that despite the general standards of the Schengen area, each member country can determine and regulate its own visa policy.
The road to Schengen
Romania and Bulgaria have been trying to join Schengen since 2011 – a few years longer than Croatia.
Bulgarian authorities allowed Sofia to retaliate against Austria and the Netherlands. In response, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis warned of “the growth of Euroscepticism” in the country.
Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007 and applied for membership in the Schengen area in 2011.
Then France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland and Belgium were opposed. They believed that “corruption and organized crime are still very strong” in these two countries.
But this year first Emmanuel Macron, then Olaf Scholz, and then some other opponents of Schengen enlargement have changed positions. However, the question of Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to Schengen remained open.
It should be noted that in the Corruption Perceptions Index published annually by Transparency International (the organization’s Russian legal entity is recognized by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as a foreign agent), Romania and Bulgaria rank last among all EU countries. . At the same time, they are only slightly ahead of, for example, long-time Schengen Agreement members Hungary and Greece.