BREAKING Prime Minister Ciolacu announces that Romania will take Austria to the EU Court of Justice over Schengen veto / „The losses amount to at least two percent of GDP”

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced in an interview in the Austrian publication Der Standard that Romania will take Austria to the EU Court of Justice over the Schengen veto, saying the damage to Romania „amounts to at least two percent of GDP”. He told Der Standard that the action against Austria would start if Austria again opposes Romania’s Schengen membership at official meetings in October and December.

Interview excerpts, translated by Rador:

STANDARD: What strategy will you approach to convince the Austrian Chancellor to drop his veto against Schengen membership?

CIOLACU: Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer informed us only a few days before the EU Council meeting that he will not support Romania’s accession. This led to frustration among the Romanian authorities and the population.

What I also cannot accept is the statement that the veto is related to the election campaign in Austria. Spain, as President of the EU Council, supports Romania’s accession to the Schengen area and is making sure that this issue is back on the agenda – either in October or on 4 or 5 December in the Council of EU Interior Ministers. All other states – apart from Austria – support Romania’s accession. Nehammer’s claim that there is very active migration through Romania is not true either.

We have also introduced, together with Serbia, joint controls to take this issue off the table. However, if Chancellor Nehammer again makes unjustified use of the veto, I will have to appeal, as Prime Minister, to the European Court against Austria’s decision, in order to claim compensation for the losses caused by non-adherence.

STANDARD: If Nehammer says NO again, will you go to the European Court?

CIOLACU: Absolutely, yes!

STANDARD: How expensive could such a claim be for Austria?

CIOLACU: Enough! According to our calculations, the damage amounts to at least two percent of GDP. But the worst thing is that Austria has set a precedent. Normally, member states follow the recommendations of the EU institutions. Croatia applied for membership about 4-5 years ago. Romania and Bulgaria could have blocked accession, but we did not.

STANDARD: Right-wing populists are on the rise in Europe, and in Romania too. Will you form a coalition with the right-wing populist party AUR after the elections next year?

CIOLACU: As long as I’m PSD president, I’ll continue to support a coalition with PNL in 2024. But Chancellor Nehammer will have to understand and know – as I do – that we politicians only occupy positions and offices for a limited time. We only have one aggressor in Europe at the moment, and that is why now would have been the best time to show solidarity within the EU. Austria is as neutral as the Republic of Moldova. You cannot claim security at European level and expect Romania and other EU Member States to become part of the Sky Shield project, i.e. watch Romania strive financially to strengthen European defences, but at the same time deny Romania a fundamental right such as Schengen membership!

STANDARD: When could negotiations with the EU start for the Republic of Moldova and how do you see Moldova joining NATO?

CIOLACU: As far as NATO is concerned, Moldova is, according to constitutional law, a neutral state. But Ukraine and Moldova will have to start EU accession negotiations. But at the same time there has to be a signal to Northern Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Otherwise, frustration would set in.