The Netherlands „has no arguments” to block Romania’s Schengen accession, MEP Dacian Ciolos said on Friday, adding that he „firmly” told this to the Dutch MEPs and Prime Minister, according to Agerpres.

„For me, things are clear. The Netherlands has no arguments to prevent Romania’s joining the Schengen and I have firmly told this every time to both the Dutch MEPs and Prime Minister Rutte. I will continue to do so. Entry into Schengen is a national top priority we want to handle with maximum seriousness and balance, because any slippage into an extremist and nationalist manifestation of anger can jeopardize a decision that is important for us, but also for European unity, which is needed more than ever,” Ciolos said as cited in a release of the REPER party.

Regarding the vote cast by the Dutch MEPs in the European Parliament on the resolution regarding Romania’s accession to the passport-free zone, Dacian Ciolos said that one should dissociate between political speculations or the particular interests of certain parties in the EU countries and each country’s European policy.

„Our only point of interest is the vote the representatives of the Netherlands will cast in the EU Council of Ministers when the decision on Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen bid will be made. My understanding is that the Dutch lawmakers want to receive additional information from their own government. I, for one, would like to better understand what exactly the Dutch government wants to know from the Romanian authorities and, as far as we, REPER members, Romanian MPs and MEPs, are concerned, we are ready to provide them any clarification they want, in full transparency of our European commitments. We trust that the other parties in the Romanian Parliament will have the same attitude, as well as the government, together with the Presidency of Romania,” added Ciolos.

According to him, „escalating the situation will not help achieve the desired goals and may lead to results that are impossible to evaluate at this moment”; Ciolos expressed hope that „every responsible politician involved in this process by the nature of their position will react in a reasonable manner, with the thought of protecting the European construction”.

Agerpres