Austria greenlights Romania’s Schengen bid for airport access. What are Vienna’s three conditions

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced on Monday, in a first, that Vienna is willing to relax its Schengen veto for Romania and Bulgaria, allowing the two countries to initially join with their airports. He made these statements on the public television channel “Ö1,” thereby confirming information that had emerged over the weekend in the Austrian press.

In exchange for easing the “Air Schengen” restrictions, meaning free entry through air transport, Karner is calling for stricter protection of the external and land borders, as well as the readmission of asylum seekers who arrive in Austria via Romania and Bulgaria.

Now, the Interior Minister has passed the ball to the European Commission to take the measures requested by Austria: “It’s now the Commission’s turn.”

He has already submitted his demands to the European Commission; specifically, he wants a “tripling of the number of border police and technical modernization” of border control, particularly at the Bulgarian-Turkish and Romanian-Serbian borders. Only then would he agree to lift the limits on air traffic.

“We need progress in the area of protecting the EU’s external borders,” Karner stated.

With the relaxation now under consideration, the land borders would maintain their current status; Bulgaria and Romania would not be official Schengen members.

In the interview with “Ö1,” the Interior Minister also explained that asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Syria, in particular, should be transferred to Romania and Bulgaria “by bus, train, or any means.” Karner justified the demand for permanent control at the land borders due to the “issue of migrant trafficking.” Of the slightly over 50,000 asylum applications in Austria, just under 150 migrants had come through airports, the Interior Minister explained.

Karner will travel to Slovenia on Monday to discuss the future of Schengen at a meeting with interior ministers from the so-called “Salzburg Forum.”

Last December 8, Austria blocked the Schengen expansion for Romania and Bulgaria, citing the high number of asylum seekers, a rationale rejected by the two countries. The Netherlands also opposed Bulgaria’s Schengen accession.

In addition to Austria, Bulgaria, and Romania, members of the Salzburg Forum include Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Western Balkan states and the Republic of Moldova are also represented.