| Romania's minister of European affairs Leonard Orban warned that the expected Dutch veto on Romania's accession to the borderless Schengen area breaches the political agreement, reached at the Council of the EU in June 2011, Agerpres reported. While Romania works and reports progress on judiciary reforms, confirmed by the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), the Netherland's position is more harmful to the integration process. EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers will resume today talks on Romania's and Bulgaria's Schengen accession. This is Romania's first official position on the Schengen accession matter after the Dutch government officials announced last week their planned veto, based on the Dutch MPs vote. Finland is reportedly going to vote against Schengen area's enlargement. France and Germany will support a gradual accession, with the sea and air borders point in a first stage, followed by the land borders in 2012, Agerpres reported, quoting unofficial sources in Brussels. We recall that the EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers underlined in June that the Schengen evaluation process for Bulgaria and Romania has been successfully completed. The reforms in the judicial system should be irreversible for a positive decision in this regard, Dutch immigration minister Gerd Leers, however, stated at that time. Schengen accession and Romania's CVM on judiciary reforms are two technically independent processes. In a statement, made late last night, Romania's President Traian Basescu said that if the Netherlands vetoes Romania's Schengen accession, the issue should be brought to the European Council's agenda in October . Basescu explained that the Dutch government should not bend under pressure from a domestic anti-European party and block the solidarity [among EU states] or the evolution of new Union members that meet the accession criteria. Basescu admitted that there are still problems to be fixed in the judiciary, even in border control, but that the progress is visible and he reminded that all the Schengen accession criteria were met. |
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