Flowers vs Schengen? Romania blocks Dutch flowers at border on bacteria suspicion

Romania has blocked several trucks with flowers, bulbs and seeds from Holland at its border with Hungary, saying it suspects a dangerous bacteria on flowers and bulbs. Dutch members of the European Parliament have deemed the move a blackmail, as it came soon after the Netherlands has said it would block Romania's accession to the Schengen area. The Netherlands' flower exports to Romania reached EUR 700,000 last year.

The matter will be on the agenda on Thursday in the Justice and Internal Affairs Council in Brussels. The European Commission will verify whether Romania's recent decision had grounds. Several trucks carrying flowers and bulbs from the Netherlands to Romania were stopped in the Bors and Salonta customs and the measures to prevent plants from the Netherlands from entering Romania has been enforced on all of Romania's borders. The Netherlands will try to prevent Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area, said the country’s Immigration Minister Gerd Leers during the speech he held in front of the country’s Parliament, according to Dutch media. Neither of the two countries is doing enough efforts to combat corruption, fact that was confirmed by the European Commission’s report this summer, he added. The final decision on Romania's entry to the Schengen area will be taken on September 22. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Sxc.hu)