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Dutch Govt confirms opposition to Romania's Schengen accession

The Netherlands on Thursday confirmed its opposition to the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area, according to AFP.

'Our position is clear. We are not in favour of an accession at this moment,' Dutch Immigration Minister Gerd Leers said before a meeting with his 26 counterparts from the other Schengen Area member states, in Brussels.The other members must be confident that the Schengen acquis has been fully implemented by Romania and Bulgaria, especially as regards the fight against corruption and organized crime, he insisted. 'Imagine you have a door with eight of the best locks of the world. But before that door is standing someone who lets everybody in, then you have a problem,' said the Dutch minister.The Schengen Area's enlargement requires the consent of all member states.

Jerzy Miller/Schengen: Netherlands and Finland did not respect promises in case of Romania and Bulgaria

Making a decision on the Schengen space extension by receiving Romania and Bulgaria as new members was impossible today, at the meeting of the Ministers of Interior of the EU, said Polish Minister of Interior Jerzy Miller, whose country holds the EU Council presidency, at the end of the debates in Brussels. ' Two Member States (Netherlands and Finland - editor's note) made it impossible for us to take a decision on the extension of the Schengen space. That makes me sad about the trust between Member States. First, Bulgaria and Romania were promised in the treaties of accession that, if they meet the conditions, they would be accepted into the Schengen space and, since April this year, we know that all these conditions have been met. As far as I know, mutual trust also means to respect your promises. So that, today, this pledge was violated, the promise included in the Accession Treaty, Miller said, referring to the fact that the Netherlands and Finland have stated repeatedly that they expect from Romania and Bulgaria irreversible developments in the good direction, to give them confidence that the Schengen acquis is fully implemented.

Miller added that in the current difficult period, including for the European Union, mutual support is needed among EU countries.

In the afternoon, the Polish Minister of Interior and his Romanian counterpart, Traian Igas, have a bilateral meeting, to discuss the steps to follow. One of the options considered so far has been the inclusion of this issue on the agenda of the European Council of October 17-18.

However, given the busy schedule of the next month's EU summit, now it looks pretty unlikely that the leaders of 'the 27' would discuss the Schengen dossier, with many states preferring to approach this issue at an inferior level.

Sursa: http://www.actmedia.eu

Tags: schengen states bulgaria accession dutch romania

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