UPDATE: Schengen saga continues. President cries abuse

Romanian President Traian Basescu said that the problem is not the delay regarding Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen but the abuse, the fact that a precedent has been created, that some states use the veto right even though candidate states have fulfilled their obligations.

“The problem is not several months of delay in the accession to Schengen. This can take place in the fall of 2011… The problem is the act itself: the abuse. We are either equal partners or not! The precedent that is being created, the fact that a management has been instituted, which points the finger in the European Union, saying: “You are in, you are not” is unacceptable,” said Basescu on the national TV channel.

The President also said: “We cannot tolerate, that if we are now staying like worms, as many recommend to us: “Sit quiet, these are the large EU states… Yes, they are the large states, but the 22 million Romanians deserve respect,” said Basescu. “Romanians have the right to be in Schengen. You cannot offend, treat 22 million Romanians like that,” said Basescu.

Basescu also said that he would have expected the French President or the German Chancellor to have warned him that their states are against Romania’s accession.

He also said that European politicians are reproaching Romania’s relations with the Moldova Republic and the fact that Romanian citizenship is granted to citizens from the Moldova Republic too easily.

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“I give you the Eurostat figures. In 2008, Romania granted 5,585 citizenships, mainly to citizens of Moldova Republic. I would like to see France: 137,320. So it is 5,000 against 137,000,” said Basescu.

He also gave as example The Netherlands which granted 28,000 citizenships even though it has a population that is half the Romanian one, Portugal which granted 22,000 citizenships and Austria with 10,268 citizenships.

Paris reaffirms opposition against Romania’s accession into Schengen

Paris has restated its opposition against Romania’s accession to the Schengen space. This was voiced by the French Minister for European Affairs, Laurent Wauquiez.

“Accession to Schengen is a huge responsibility. Their frontier becomes our frontier. They must be able to control it, as here there are various types of trafficking. The corruption problem must also be dealt with: a Romanian customs’ worker earns EUR 400 a month,” said the French official.

France and Germany opposed Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen space, sending a letter to the European Commission which wrote that it is premature for these two countries to be admitted, as they first need to make irreversible progress in the fight against corruption and organized crime.

 
Government should fight until the last minute for Schengen, President says

President Traian Basescu asked the government “to fight until the last moment” for entering Schengen within the established term, April-May 2011.

The statement was made during the government’s session today.

“I will start with Schengen, which predicts a failure, and I consider this as first of all my failure. At the same time, I cannot help maintaining my previous statements that Romania was discriminated against from this point of view, as we have fulfilled the technical conditions in the Accession Treaty regarding entry into Schengen space,” said Basescu.

He added that the position of the French and German ministers of internal affairs adds supplementary requirements, “that have been not attached in the Treaty, nor have we been warned on time that supplementary requirements would be attached,” said Basescu.

According to the President, Romania has set an entry term for joining Schengen and has respected its obligations as far as entry conditions are concerned.

“What I propose is to have a common approach. Romania cannot denounce the Mechanism of Cooperation and Control. Also, Romania cannot- in fact it can but it is not our policy, because this means we would be doing exactly what is happening to us now- block Croatia’s access,” says Basescu.

Otilia Haraga