President Klaus Iohannis says that Romania’s accession to the Schengen area will be on the agenda of the Council of Justice and Home Affairs meeting on Thursday and those negotiations are ongoing until that moment, Agerpres reports.

„It is still being discussed, it is being negotiated. On Thursday, the matter will be on the agenda of the JHA council meeting of interior and justice ministers, where this matter will certainly be discussed at length. Until then, negotiations are needed; the text of that decision is still being discussed and we are committed to staying determined until the last moment and leading the decision where we want it to be,” Iohannis said on Tuesday before participating in the European Union – Western Balkans Summit in Tirana.

Regarding Austria’s opposition to Romania’s accession to the European border-free area, Iohannis said that „it is still being discussed and negotiated.”

„We will keep on discussing and negotiating until the very last moment,” he said.

He was also asked if Romania could be decoupled from Bulgaria in this case.

„Given that the decisions regarding Romania and Bulgaria are not exactly identical, the results cannot be exactly identical either, but that does not mean that a decision formula that is convenient for both sides cannot be found. Decoupling as a solution was discussed before and my hope is that we will have a positive decision and that there will be no need to discuss these issues any further,” said Iohannis.

Agerpres