The EU interior ministers, meeting today in Brussels, have given the go-ahead for Croatia's entry as a new member country of the Schengen area of free movement. However, and as expected, according to diplomatic sources, Bulgaria and Romania have not obtained the necessary unanimous support for their entry.
"Last step completed! Council decision adopted: Croatia is now formally confirmed to join the Schengen area from January 1, 2023," Croatia's permanent representation to the EU said in a tweet.
The Schengen area is the largest free movement zone in the world, eliminating border controls between member states in what is considered one of the major achievements of European integration.
But over the past decade, emergency checkpoints have regularly appeared during periods of increased immigration from the Middle East and Africa, and at times when member countries have struggled to effectively contain local security threats.
The European Commission recommended that Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia should be admitted to Schengen, saying they had met the necessary technical requirements. But accession needs the unanimous backing of all members - 22 EU countries along with Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland - and Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters as he arrived for the key meeting in Brussels that he would vote against allowing Romania and Bulgaria to enter.
"It is wrong for a system that is not working properly in many places to be extended at this time," he said, adding that admitting the two eastern EU states could raise security concerns.
Immigration has been a hot topic in Europe since 2015, with more than a million people arriving via the Mediterranean Sea, mostly on smuggler ships, prompting the EU to tighten its external borders.
For his part, Community Vice President Margaritis Schinas, assured that the "few doubts" that remain about the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen zone, by Austria and the Netherlands, are "political" and appealed to have a "mind open" and expressed his hope that the two countries will get the "green light" for their entry, just like Croatia.
"The few remaining doubts are political and undermine two very simple facts: we are stronger, not weaker, through Schengen enlargement. And secondly, that Schengen enlargement means more and better checks, not less. So I hope that common sense and an open mind prevail and we can make the decision, if not today, then in a few days," Schinas said.
Upon his arrival at the Council of Interior Ministers, the Greek politician reiterated the message that the European Commission has hammered out in recent days, "that Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania are technically prepared to join Schengen. They did what we asked them to do. They even did more than we asked them to do," he stressed.
Austria had already reiterated the day before its determination to veto the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into that area of free movement of people and goods, given the increase in immigration this year. The Netherlands had also expressed its refusal to admit Bulgaria to the Schengen area.
"I would say not only to Austria, but to the whole world, that the three candidate countries did what they had to do and are ready to ensure that our external border is protected. They are prepared with everything necessary to fight against smugglers and prevent the illegal crossings (of migrants) into the European Union. And it is unfair not to give them the opportunity they have earned and deserve," insisted Vice President Schinas.
In the same sense, the European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, expressed herself, who praised the impulse given by the current Czech presidency of the Council of the European Union to the enlargement of the Schengen zone. "This is the first time in eleven years that we really have the possibility of finding a solution with a clear path for both Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen," said the Swedish politician.
