EPP supports Romania’s accession to Schengen, party president says at congress in Bucharest

The president of the European People's Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, said at the opening of the party congress in Bucharest on March 6 that Romania and Bulgaria should immediately become full members of the Schengen Area.

The Austrian governing OVP party, also part of the center-right EPP family, has been the sole opponent of Romania joining the border-free area and reluctantly agreed to the so-called “air Schengen.” The deal makes it so Romania’s ports and airports are essentially integrated into Schengen, while land borders remain in place.

"I want to ask the socialists in Austria to reconsider because the Austrian socialists also oppose fully admitting Romania and Bulgaria," Weber said, cited by News.ro.

“The two states meet all the conditions. I also want to say that I congratulate Romania for partially joining, with its air and maritime borders, and we want to see Romania and Bulgaria entering the Schengen Area as quickly as possible," he added during a press conference held together with PNL president Nicolae Ciucă before the EPP congress.

The two-day European People's Party congress started on Wednesday in Bucharest, reuniting over 2,000 delegates from more than 40 countries. Most of the participants have already arrived in Romania, and president Klaus Iohannis and prime minister Marcel Ciolacu have scheduled several meetings with the leaders present in Bucharest.

During the congress, the EPP will decide the strategy for the European Parliament elections, establish the manifesto of the European People's Party, and nominate the main candidate for the presidency of the European Commission.

The party of Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer, ÖVP, participating in the EPP Congress in Bucharest, will not agree with the EPP manifesto because it contains "red lines," such as nuclear energy or the expansion of Schengen, reports the Austrian publication Kurier cited by Digi24.

"We cannot agree with nuclear energy in Austria. We are and remain against nuclear energy," said ÖVP Secretary General Christian Stocker.

Additionally, ÖVP is clearly against the abolition of the unanimity principle in foreign and security policy, Stocker added. Another red line for ÖVP is the EU's planned phase-out of combustion engines. The Austrian party also disagrees with the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area.