President Klaus Iohannis declared on Monday that he will continue discussions on Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, stressing that the decision is made in the Council of Justice and Home Affairs, not in the European Council and that the Schengen issue will not be on the agenda of the extraordinary European Council in February, according to Agerpres.

„The European Council on February 9 and 10 will not have the Schengen issue on its agenda. In my opinion, it is anyway too early. Until January 15, it is hard to believe that anything will be discussed and in two weeks I do not expect it to be resolved the question of the Austrian approach and the question of the Dutch approach to Bulgaria. We must all understand, together that these matters must be resolved before another vote is made in the JHA Council. I will continue all the discussions, but I do not expect that at the Extraordinary Council in February this topic to be debated, it will be discussed on the sidelines of the meeting between us, but without appearing in the conclusions, and I am optimistic that we will continue to find solutions for the Austrian vote and for the Dutch approach to Bulgaria, because the best solution and this is clear for everyone is for Romania and Bulgaria to receive a vote at the same time, so to enter the Schengen area together,” said the president at the Cotroceni palace, after the meeting with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.

„I had (at the European Council) a rather long discussion with the Swedish prime minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, and it is clear that he is aware of the problem, he is familiar with our requests, with the issue in general and his opinion was that this matter must be put back into discussion,” said Iohannis.

„Let me clarify some things before some publicity-hungry opinion makers create expectations that will not be met. The Schengen issue is not discussed at the European Council, it is not settled there, but at the JHA Council, it is a format of the ministers of Interior within the Council of the European Union. Immediately after the two issues under discussion will be clarified politically, through bilateral discussions in different formats, I am convinced that the issue will be put in the Council of the JHA and my conviction is that when they put it on the agenda will receive a positive response. We, the EU, cannot afford another failure,” he said.

„I particularly appreciated the involvement of Madame President personally, but also of the European Parliament in the Schengen case. The European Parliament and president Metsola were on our side from the start and recommended, both through a political vote and through political discussions, Romania’s admission to the Schengen area. I asked the president to keep this approach and this optimism, and continue with our legitimate hope that in the coming year, in 2023, Romania will become part of the Schengen area,” the president also said.

Agerpres