The Dutch Parliament adopted a resolution stipulating that the Netherlands should not vote for the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, announced Thursday, in a statement for AGERPRES, the Dutch MEP Sophie in’T Veld, the coordinator of the Renew group in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament.

To my great regret, I just found out that the Dutch parliament adopted a resolution that states that the Netherlands should not vote for the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area. I deeply regret this. My party (Democrats 66, ed. n.) voted against this resolution, we want Romania and Bulgaria to immediately join the Schengen area, you have met the necessary criteria. I am afraid that the Prime Minister of the Government of the Netherlands is doing very little to convince the Dutch parliament or to take responsibility and say that, in the interest of Europe, he will agree in the Council (with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen, ed. n.). You have to understand that not everyone in the Netherlands is against it. My party wants Bulgaria and Romania to join Schengen immediately, but most of the parties in the government do not want this,” Sophie in’T Veld told AGERPRES.

The European Parliament adopted, on Tuesday, with a large majority, a non-legislative resolution in which it asks the Council of the European Union to take all the necessary measures by the end of 2022 to adopt the decision regarding the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area of free movement. The expansion of the Schengen area requires a unanimous decision of the EU Council.

Currently, among the EU member states, only Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania are not part of the Schengen area, which also includes states that are not members of the EU bloc (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein).

Agerpres