EXCLUSIVE Political turmoil in Romania over Schengen enlargement: authorities and political parties are trying to prevent a Dutch veto after a party in the Dutch government coalition signalled it would oppose Romania’s accession

All the Romanian governmental institutions and the leaders of the major parties are in permanent contact with the Dutch leaders to prevent a possible veto of this country against Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, according to G4Media.

The diplomatic fever has been triggered by indications that the CDA, a party in the Dutch coalition government led by Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra, is reluctant to allow Romania to join the Schengen Area, European sources told G4Media. The party’s opposition could put Romania’s hopes of joining the Schengen area on hold for another year, even if stronger states such as Germany and France support Bucharest.

Why is the position of the Dutch party with only 15 seats in the Hague Parliament important? The Dutch parliament is highly fragmented and the Dutch government is backed by a four-party coalition and has a fragile majority of only 13 seats.

The Dutch government led by Mark Rutte is required by custom to take a vote in parliament on a decision such as whether to accept Romania or Bulgaria into the Schengen area, a decision so far rejected by the legislature in The Hague.

But with 15 votes in parliament, the CDA party can prevent the decisive vote in parliament, without which the Rutte government cannot vote in the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA), the European institution that decides whether or not a member state is admitted to Schengen.

„There are currently direct contacts linked to the Netherlands in order to prevent any reaction from the Dutch government. I cannot give you details. But yes I can confirm that both at the government level and at the political group level we are making an effort not to have a problem. We do not have a decision from the Netherlands to block us, it is something proactive, we want to ensure that there are no problems”, Renew MEP Dragoș Pîslaru told G4Media.

Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, announced on 29 August that Romania meets all the requirements for joining the Schengen Area, along with Bulgaria and Croatia. Berlin’s position is a crucial one, given that Germany and the Netherlands have so far been the countries opposed to Schengen membership.

The Romanian Government and President Klaus Iohannis have set as important political objectives to be achieved by the end of the year Romania’s entry into the Schengen area and the lifting of the Verification and Control Mechanism (CVM).

Translated from Romanian