Chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Nicolae Ciuca participated on Thursday in the European People’s Party Summit in Brussels, having also a meeting with current European Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn, with whom he discussed Romania’s complete Schengen admission.

The national leader of the Liberals said that the topics of the EPP Summit looked at the situation in Ukraine and assistance for this country, competitiveness – the automotive and the steel industry, and migration. Support for the Republic of Moldova before the country’s presidential election and the referendum on EU accession were also discussed.

„As far as migration is concerned, we approached the topic that hurts us the most, namely the finalization of the political decision for Romania’s Schengen accession, because after the latest JHA Council meeting, everyone acknowledged that Romania meets all the requirements and technical standards for joining – a political decision is to follow. Summit discussions and the final declaration of the European People’s Party Summit affirm that Romania and Bulgaria deserve and must be supported to fully enter the borderless Schengen Area,” Ciuca said.

He showed that he also discussed Romania’s complete accession to Schengen with Austria’s representative, Commissioner Hahn. „Chancellor Nehammer didn’t attend, he went directly to the Council, and we agreed that a political decision is needed to complete all the technical steps, as Austria too – including through the voice of Minister of the Interior Karner – publicly acknowledged that Romania’s verifiably fulfills the requirements, and respects the procedures for returning migrants to the country they come from – to Austria, respectively to us. (…) I can tell you that through everything we have undertaken and our presence here today were precisely to use this opportunity to reinforce the request for a political decision and to mediate any approach through which we can make this decision happen,” said the PNL leader.

AGERPRES