PM Ciolos speaks out: Romania denied Schengen access due to outdated political reasons

Newsroom 29/08/2016 | 13:06

Prime minister Dacian Ciolos said on Monday, at the Annual Meeting of the Diplomacy, that at this moment the terrorism and migration have become the most serious threats, adding that in this context, Romania’s access to Schengen space is blocked over outdated political reasons.

„Terrorism has become the most serious asymmetric threat of our times, together with migration, that cannot be fought off unless there are common ideas, solutions and actions. I have to remind the essential role that the cross-border cooperation has, the continuous data exchanges between our authorities and the fact that for more than five years Romania’s entry into Schengen has been denied for political reasons that seem to be outdated compared to the realities we have to face,” said Ciolos.

He also said that at European level, the crisis situations „are still heavy”.

„We often lack information and instruments that we need to have proactive policies. We needed more than one year from the first terrorist attack from Paris to take a decision (…) at European level. This shows that, even in crisis situations, our reactions at community level are still slow,” concluded Ciolos.

Georgiana Bendre