Social Democratic Party (PSD) MEPs Dan Nica and Victor Negrescu say that they have got the firm commitment of the social democratic commissioner from Sweden, Ylva Johansson, for a favourable decision regarding Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, according to Agerpres.

„With the lifting of the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), the last pretext for Romania’s staying outside the Schengen area has disappeared. Therefore, I have appreciated Ms Johansson’s categorical support for accession and the fact that she considers it an obligation for the European Council, given the report by the European Commission that says all conditions have been met. We have on our side both the officially recognised facts and the political support of the European Parliament and the European Commission,” PSD quotes Nica as saying in a press statement released on Wednesday.

According to Nica, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, had „a positive and firm approach” as she reconfirmed support for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area.

„I have talked with Ms Commissioner Ylva Johansson about the increasingly high chances of Romania joining the Schengen area, as the report on the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism is out. I presented, once again, Romania’s assets and emphasised the need for a decisions that should be taken this year for our accession to the free movement area and we discussed the efforts that must be made to further convince the reluctant states. I thanked our social democratic commissioner for her personal efforts in supporting Romania and I am glad that we managed to make additional funds available to the European Commission and the states that manage the external borders of the EU, as a result of the amendments we submitted and which were approved in the European budget for next year,” said MEP Negrescu.

Agerpres