Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó of Hungary has stated that having Romania join the Schengen Area is in ‘Hungary’s national interest,’ Schengen.news reports. The minister stated that it would facilitate better trade between the two countries, pointing out that Romania is one of Hungary’s top export markets.
Romania did partially join the area in March 2024. However, border checks were only eliminated for sea and air travel, with checks on the land border still in place. Foreign Minister Szijjártó would like to see the neighbouring country be fully integrated into Schengen.
He also stressed that
Romania in the Schengen Area would also be better for ethnic Hungarians living outside their motherland, who could visit Hungary with more comfortable travel,
without being held up at the border sometimes for hours.
‘We really hope that the Western European countries won’t be hypocritical, either, and all those who have been voicing their support for this will actually support it. And we sincerely hope that those who vetoed Romania’s accession to the Schengen area last time won’t get in the way of European consensus and a joint European position this time,’ Minister Szijjártó said according to Schengen.news.
He added that Hungary is doing everything it can to have its eastern neighbour join the ‘borderless’ zone during the time it occupies the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union between July and December 2024
Some critics have cited concerns over border security as the reason to oppose the proposal, an issue that is a top priority of the current Orbán administration as well. However, Szijjártó stressed that Hungary and Romania have reached an agreement on cross-border law enforcement cooperation.
What Is the Schengen Area?
The Schengen Area was created in 1995, with the five European states (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) signing the Schengen Agreement, doing away with internal checks on the borders they share. It is named after Schengen, Luxembourg, the town where the treaty was signed.
Currently, the Schengen Area includes 27 countries with land border checks eliminated, 23 out of the 27 EU Member States (with the exception of Ireland, Cyprus, Romania, and Bulgaria); as well as the non-EU countries Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
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