The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) has passed a resolution submitted by the Save Romania Union (USR) and the Bulgarian Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party, calling on all member state to lift their vetos on the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area.

The resolution passed at a meeting of ALDE Congress in Estoril, Portugal.

According to USR, the resolution calls on all European institutions to make every effort for the accession of the two states with land borders to Schengen and to put pressure on the states that oppose this legitimate approach.

„Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area with the land borders is not a favour that is done to us, but a right that we have earned. Romanian citizens, Romanian entrepreneurs have no reason to be victims of a political game that Austria is playing through its representatives at the top. Romania has been contributing to the prosperity and security of the European Union and must be treated as such in the great European family. It is true that those who temporarily lead Romania have not fought enough for this right of ours, but together with my colleagues we are taking all possible steps so that Romania receives all the benefits it deserves,” USR national leader Elena Lasconi is quoted as saying in a press statement released on Sunday.

USR MEP Dan Barna, vice-president of ALDE Europe, is quoted as saying that regardless of the result of the elections in Austria, European law must prevail, and the lifting of „an absurd veto” is a legal and, above all, moral obligation towards the Romanian people who do not receive freedom of movement as a gift, but as a right earned through work and determination.

„USR has managed to convince the Austrian party NEOS, part of the same European family, to ask the Austrian government to withdraw the decision to oppose Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area. In the conservative family, to which the National Liberal Party (PNL) belongs, one cannot speak of such a diplomatic success. The non-inclusion of Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen Area has only negative consequences. In addition to the significant economic losses of the two countries, of tens of millions of euros annually, the keeping of the two EU member states outside the Schengen area fuels anti-EU propaganda, poses serious problems related to the rule of law, discriminates against European citizens and companies while also leading to an increase in carbon emissions by over 46,000 tonnes annually, because of the long waiting times at the borders between Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.”

AGERPRES