EU member countries reached agreement Saturday on removing air and maritime internal border controls with Bulgaria and Romania, but the two countries’ full entry into the bloc’s passport-free Schengen zone remains subject to further discussions.
Controls at sea and air borders with Romania and Bulgaria will be lifted as of March 31, the Council of the EU, which represents EU countries, said in a statement on Saturday. “A further decision should be taken by the Council to establish a date for the lifting of checks at internal land borders,” according to the statement.
This is potentially the worst possible outcome for this whole debacle. This way the austrian conservatives earn points because they managed to restrict the percieved illegal immigrant flow from the east. Also the current governing parties in romania get to keep their crooked border staff, through which they siphon hundreds of millions of euro, as well as earning some electoral points. This partial agreement will also make sure that further schengen talks can be put on the back burner. And in the end the true beneficiaries of a schengen accord - romanian/bulgarian businesses that ship by truck - will get the shaft. Oh, and this whole scandal plays right into russia’s hands, as this will fuel serious anti-eu sentiment in romania.