The EU Parliament will Vote On a Resolution on the Accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen

Today, the European Parliament will vote on a resolution for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area. Against this background, the Romanian MEP from the European People's Party, Eugene Tomac, requested that the European Parliament file a case against the European Council before the Court of Justice of the EU for not allowing Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen. His compatriot from the European Conservatives and Reformists Cristian Terhes called on the European Commission to join the initiative. "Since 2011, the Commission has claimed that both countries are ready to join Schengen. President Ursula von der Leyen has the legal means to force Austria and the Netherlands to accept both countries into the free movement area," Terhes stressed.

"Do we want the two countries to remain outside Schengen after they have done so much for European integration? It is not fair and no one should support it," said Bulgaria's MEP Ilhan Kyuchuk from "Renew Europe". "We cannot stigmatize European citizens. We have never encouraged that there should be a double quality of European citizens - some who have greater privileges and others who have no privileges. Exactly this is behind achieved at the moment with Schengen! We cannot close doors to Bulgaria and to Romania. I do not want to stigmatize these citizens! They are no less citizens than all the others: Germans, French, Austrians, Dutch".

Bulgaria's MEP from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Tsvetelina Penkova emphasized the double standards:

"It is clear that the membership of Bulgaria and Romania is being blocked for internal political reasons and has nothing to do with the fulfillment of the technical criteria. But in this way, European...