Austria’s latest explanation for keeping Romania out of Schengen: “We are not a blocking state. It’s a cry for help” / How Vienna qualifies Bucharest’s reaction

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  2. **Austria’s latest explanation for keeping Romania out of Schengen: “We are not a blocking state. It’s a cry for help” / How Vienna qualifies Bucharest’s reaction.**

    **Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, a member of Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s ÖVP party, defends Austria’s refusal to welcome Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen, suggesting that his country had to resort to this to make its voice heard in Brussels: “We are not a blocking and vetoing state. It’s more like a cry for help,” writes the Austrian daily “Kronen Zeitung” on Saturday. The publication also talks about the tensions in the governing coalition in Vienna caused by the JHA vote.**

    Four days ago, efforts were still being made to overlook the deep divisions within the governing coalition in Vienna. This is now over. The veto against Romania and Bulgaria joining the Schengen area has put the coalition in a difficult situation. The Greens are very angry with the ÖVP and are calling for a rethink, writes the Austrian daily Kronen Zeitung on Saturday. The Greens are minority partners of the conservative ÖVP in the ruling coalition government in Vienna.

    **Tensions in the Vienna coalition. “Karner put on his steel helmet and went ahead with the veto”**

    “Although Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler (representing the Greens – ed.) and Green leader Sigi Maurer remained silent on Friday, they instead sent Justice Minister Alma Zadic to voice their displeasure. She stressed in Brussels that her party did not support the veto,” writes Kronen Zeitung, according to News.ro.

    According to the publication, even before Thursday’s decisive JHA Council meeting, Vice-Chancellor Kogler tried to persuade ÖVP Interior Minister Gerhard Karner to find compromise solutions. “However, without success. Karner put on his steel helmet and went ahead with the veto,” writes “Kronen Zeitung”.

    Through various “argumentative contortions”, the Greens tried to escape any responsibility for the vote. On Twitter, Michel Reimon, one of the voices of the Greens, explained that each minister was free in his or her decision when voting in Brussels. The Greens therefore had no influence on Karner. Reimon also expressed hope that this decision could be fixed in another coalition. However, he later stressed that this was not a reason to break the coalition and call for new elections.

    The ÖVP also received a slap on the wrist from Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen (also from the Greens). The head of state said he “extraordinarily regretted” Austria’s behaviour in the JHA Council. He admitted that Austria is in a difficult situation because of the influx of immigrants, “but the connection between this problem and the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen, I must confess, unfortunately, I do not see it,” Van der Bellen said, quoted by “Kronen Zeitung”.

    **”A veto of necessity”**

    In the Ministry of the Interior, but also in the Federal Chancellery, people are trying to temper temper tempers. “Unfortunately, we had to resort to such methods in order to be heard in Brussels,” is the excuse given at the chancellery. Moreover, the conservatives don’t understand why such a fuss is being made, since the Netherlands also voted against Bulgaria’s admission, writes “Kronen Zeitung”.

    According to the same publication, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) defended Austria’s rejection of Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen membership by suggesting that Vienna had to resort to this to make its voice heard in Brussels.

    * “We are not a blocking and vetoing state. It is rather a cry for help,” the Austrian foreign minister stressed.

    **Romania’s reaction too “emotional”**

    Austria did not block Romania and Bulgaria from joining Schengen, it just “didn’t want to do it now”, Schallenberg said in an interview with Puls24 TV on Friday. In fact, says the foreign minister, Austria wanted to take the Schengen issue off the agenda of the JHA Council and have it discussed again in six months’ time.

    But he denied that the veto had anything to do with the local elections in Lower Austria, where his party lost ground to the far right, which has radicalised positions on immigration.

    At the same time, he criticised Romania’s reaction as too “emotional” after the Romanian foreign ministry recalled Austrian ambassador Emil Hurezeanu for consultations.

    Romania, which has been waiting 11 years to join Schengen, did not join the European free movement area this time either, despite having the support of 26 EU member states. Austria managed to block the favourable decision in the JHA Council on Thursday, as unanimity was required for Schengen accession. It was joined by the Netherlands, which opposes Bulgaria’s accession, and voted “in a package with Romania”.

  4. no mention of Croatia. If they wanted to be heard, why let Croatia in and not Romania or Bulgaria? Let’s be honest, refugees will take the shortest route, there are more coming through the Adriatic then the Carpathians

  7. “Look what you made me do!”

    No connection whatsoever with OMV representatives meeting with the president a few days before the vote.

    No connection with the natural gas reserves in the Black Sea.

    SEcURe bOrDerS BettER hurr durr.

    Yeah, you can gently fuck off.

  8. I don’t understand their logic. We have too many migrants crossing our borders, mostly from Hungary, and most of them took the western Balkan route, but we’re blocking eastern Balkan members from joining Schengen to “cry for help”? Austrians themselves said just a few months ago, that most migrants arrive by plane via Belgrade (because of visa free travel).

  10. it is a cry for help, to immediately remove the veto right on shit already approved by the elected commission. Romania joining Schengen or not is not Austrian national goverment bussines. Both Netherlands and Austria acted as entitled children opposed to every core value of the Union. Veto needs to be removed or nerfed, something like 20% of member states putting a joint veto.

    This is embarrassing and makes us all look like idiots. Our joint parliament agreed on something, and 1/27 leaders can just shit on all that diplomatic work that costed millions if not billions for Bulgaria and Romania. And for what? Checked borders that any state can implement at any time? we looked like idiots and it’s for absolutely nothing. All for a few political points in local elections in Austria? AT and NL you are no better than. Turkey blocking Sweden and Finland in NATO just to push some own bullshit agenda.

  12. Welcome to our daily struggle, this is a taste of what level of incompetent government we have to frustratingly deal with every day, since years, because the majority of old fucks keep voting the same corrupt party

  13. This is nonsense. It’s just corruption and blackmail. It’s not about emigration, it’s not about their internal politics, it doesn’t make any sense. These Austrian politicians do not care about their people.

    It was a last minute veto without saying anything for 11 years. Just three days after Austria’s interior minister announced he would vote against Romania, a meeting took place between a delegation from OMV Petrom and the Romanian authorities. Apparently OMV wanted to change our offshore law:

    https://stirileprotv-ro.translate.goog/stiri/financiar/surse-austriecii-vor-modificarea-legii-off-shore-ca-sa-accepte-aderarea-romaniei-la-spatiului-schengen.html?_x_tr_sl=ro&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    This is not just a mere coincidence. Romania was blackmailed into giving its resources to the Austrians to join the EU. And they tried to blackmail us again for our gas in the Black Sea… in the middle of an energy crisis.

    It’s hard to believe, but it seems to me that Austrian politicians are much more corrupt than our (Romanian) politicians. Their clowns bow only to their masters: the Austrian corporations and oligarchs. They only care about their own pockets. Nothing less, nothing more.

    It’s very likely that they’re xenophobic, but who gives a fuck about their xenophobia. Romanians and Austrians who still think it’s about xenophobia and/or emigration and internal politics are naive at best, IMO.

    Take a look here and you’ll understand their modus operandi:
    https://intellinews.com/the-view-from-mitteleuropa-explaining-the-austrian-veto-of-schengen-membership-for-romania-and-bulgaria-264833

    Btw, Bulgaria is not our friend, they don’t care about us, Romanians please stop with this crap.

  14. Unpopular opinion: Romania and Bulgaria are in EU by a political mistake and only now are paying for it (by NL and AT keeping them sort of away from “complete” integration).

    As to why Croatia got accepted in to Schengen and they didn’t – you need to have in mind that Croatia not so long ago was a war torn country that had miraculously recovered, and despite these huge challenges is better standing than Bulgaria or Romania which haven’t had any of the challenges Croatia had. This is a huge indicator of which countries are on the right path and which aren’t.

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