Austria Offers Bulgaria, Romania 'Air Schengen' in Exchange for Stronger Borders

Austria is ready to agree to Romania and Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen area, but only for air travel and in exchange for enhanced security at the EU's external borders, Reuters reports.

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner explained that if the requirements for enhanced security at the EU's external borders are met, passport checks between Romania and Bulgaria and the Schengen countries could be cancelled, but only for air travel - a solution he called "air Schengen".

"Yes, I can imagine changes as far as airports in Romania and Bulgaria are concerned," he said.

Karner added that he has sent a document with Vienna's position to the European Commission, and now "the ball is in its court".

"On the other hand, in exchange for this, there are clear requirements, namely: a significant increase in the protection of the external border (of the European Union), the preservation of ground border checks and the transfer of asylum seekers to Bulgaria and Romania," Karner said.

In particular, he noted, Austria would like to see the number of border police tripled and technical equipment improved, especially on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey and Romania and Serbia.

Earlier it was reported that Bulgaria is not going to confront Austria and the Netherlands, which are blocking its accession to the Schengen area, preferring soft diplomacy and political pressure on Brussels to overcome the veto of these countries.

Earlier, Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said that the country would have two opportunities to join the visa-free Schengen area this year, namely in October and December.

In July, MEPs adopted a resolution calling on the European Council to approve Romania and Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen area by the end of 2023.

In the resolution, which was adopted with 526 votes in favour, the European Parliament emphasises that both countries have already fulfilled the necessary requirements for accession to Schengen.

MEPs deplore the Council's decision of 8 December 2022 to deny them membership "without providing any legal justification related to the accession criteria".

In December 2022, EU interior ministers failed to approve the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area, but agreed to the accession of Croatia. Austria and the Netherlands voted against Romania and Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen area.