After saying yes to Croatia, Austria’s government is under pressure to also give up the blockade of Romania’s accession to Schengen. But for now, she’s staying tough.
Ever since Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced a blockade of the Schengen expansion to include Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria on November 23, the federal government has been fighting a rearguard action. First, the no to Croatia was dropped. There is no major migration problem there, said Chancellor Karl Nehammer. “Since Croatia is exemplary in its border protection, I don’t see a problem there.” Now the government is sticking with Romania, although it is becoming apparent that this position can hardly be maintained. Bucharest has vehemently opposed Karner’s allegations that it was primarily responsible for migrants moving on to Austria. Romania, wrote its ambassador, Emil Hurezeanu, in a letter to Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, felt like a “plaything of daily politics”.
The EU interior ministers are to vote on the Schengen extension on Thursday. Austria is currently the only country that is opposed to more than one accession country. After a thorough examination, the EU Commission gave the green light to all three countries. The Netherlands and Sweden, who were also skeptical for a long time, should at least give in to Romania. Now it’s getting tight for Austria. According to Bucharest, it can prove that the claim that Romania is primarily responsible for the passage of migrants northwards cannot be substantiated. Most recently, most migrants came to Austria via Serbia and Hungary. A large part of them via the airport in Belgrade, another part from Greece, Bulgaria and further via Serbia.