Welcome to Schengen!

Finally! 🎉 Bulgaria and Romania are fully admitted into the Schengen Area. Congrats to our friends! This is a good decision, and we are ready for more such steps into the EU enlargement!

Both countries were first supposed to join Schengen in 2012, as they fulfilled all the necessary conditions in 2011. The original plan was however opposed by Western European countries, especially shameful vetoes from Austria and Netherlands' governments that were withdrawn today. 🙌

🟢 We await another step towards the future: admission of candidate countries into the EU! This process is as untransparent and complicated as Romania and Bulgaria's Schengen Area accession. For example, Montenegro has been negotiating candidates since 2012 ⏳ These long processes damage the credibility of the EU and fuel euro-scepticism. The accession process needs to be transparent and with clear timeframe. Countries should not have a right to veto accession processes, as it is the case with Greece, and now Bulgaria, blocking North Macedonia's accession process.

🟢 We are against artificial extension of the accession processes and double standards towards the "old EU" countries and Eastern European candidates. For example, Austria was blocking Romania's accession to Schengen maintaining strong economic relations with Russia: until recently, it almost did not reduce gas imports from Russia (98% in December 2024), and its second largest bank, Raiffeisen, continues to operate and profit in Russia. Hence, it should not have a right to veto the accession of other countries 🚫 EU needs to eliminate the unanimity rule and establish a qualified majority! 🗳️