Secretary of State with the Ministry of the Interior Bogdan Despescu said on Monday that for Romania, joining the Schengen Area was a testimony of the solidarity and trust built together with European partners.

Speaking at the ‘Henri Coanda’ International Airport one year on since Romania’s entering the free movement area with its air and maritime borders, Despescu said that „After years of waiting, Romania entered the Schengen on March 31, 2024 with the air and maritime borders, and on December 31 it fully joined the Schengen as the road controls were lifted at all land checkpoints. It wasn’t an easy journey. In every stage, the structures of the Ministry of the Interior showed their professionalism, we proved that we meet the Schengen requirements, that we work just like the structures in the Schengen Area, we know how to work as a team, how to speed up the pace where needed, we know how to protect the citizens and at the same time protect the borders of the European Union.”

He added that for the structures of the Interior Ministry, „joining the Schengen Area meant taking responsibility in a different international context.”

„What did one year of Schengen mean for Romania? First of all, free movement for our citizens, they were able to travel much faster both outside the country, but also when returning to their families, to their loved ones. Yet at the same time, for us, the structures of the Ministry of the Interior, the Schengen meant responsibility in a different international context, as there are multiple challenges to handle. The structures of the Ministry of the Interior adjusted their working mechanisms to what working without systematic controls means and we came up with several offsetting activities, all of which aimed to increase security within national borders,” the official said.

According to the Secretary of State, one year after the commissioning of the eDAC police check application, over 600 people were tracked down by the structures of the Ministry of the Interior.

„The eDAC application has been active for one year. We have exceeded 12 million accesses, and to date we have over 13,500 alerts, over 600 people tracked down by the structures of the Ministry of the Interior, over 1,200 missing persons and almost 500 vehicles found both at the border area and in the country,” Despescu informed.

AGERPRES