President Klaus Iohannis said that Romania will become part of the Schengen area, pointing out that the stake is not the date when this happens, but the entry into the free movement area, according to Agerpres.

„I am one hundred percent convinced that Romania will become part of the Schengen area, but I would ask you, all your colleagues, not to necessarily fixate on a certain date, I said the same thing when people started to speculate on December 8 as the final date. If you remember, I said that for me, December 8 is not a stake, but Romania’s accession to the Schengen is a stake,” declared Iohannis, after visiting the 1st Training Battalion Olt in southern Caracal together with his Portuguese counterpart, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

He reiterated that Romania’s accession to the Schengen area remains a national objective of great importance.

„Romania will join Schengen, but now, at this moment, I don’t think we can commit to a date, February or March. My hope is that for Romania to join Schengen with full rights in 2023. For me, I don’t think I’m saying anything wrong, it is not a certain date when it’s being discussed that is the stake, but Romania’s accession to Schengen is. Yes, the JHA Council in March would be, at least theoretically, a good time to discuss this issue,” said Klaus Iohannis.

The head of state specified that when the two issues that are still not clarified – Austria’s vote, respectively the mixed vote of the Netherlands – will be clarified, a JHA Council will certainly be convened. He mentioned that he expects a positive response at this meeting.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasized that Portugal supports Romania’s accession to the Schengen area.

„Portugal believes that it is important for the European Union to review the recently adopted position and to review it as quickly as possible, thus allowing Romania to join the Schengen area. European solidarity cannot be a partial or unilateral solidarity, it must be a global solidarity, and this global solidarity means (…) avoiding problems in addition to those we all have in Europe and in the world,” said the Portuguese president.

Agerpres