June 19 (SeeNews) - Romania should become a member state of the Schengen area 'very soon', European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said on Wednesday.
"(...) I would like to send a clear message to our Romanian friends, as very soon Romania should be a member state of the Schengen zone. Being politically responsible for that, I have worked very closely with the Romanian authorities. Romania has fulfilled all its commitments, so we hope that the Member States are very close to opening the doors of the European Union to Romanian citizens," European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said ahead of the EU-US JHA ministerial meeting in Bucharest, a video posted on his website showed.
In December, the European Parliament reiterated its call to the Council to swiftly take a positive decision of the bids of Bulgaria and Romania to join the Schengen free-travel area.
The MEPs emphasized that a two-step approach - first abolishing checks at internal sea and air borders, followed by stopping checks at internal land borders - would pose a number of risks and could negatively impact the future enlargement of the Schengen area, therefore the decision should be taken in the form of a single legal act.
The European Parliament also called on the Council to decide on Croatia’s Schengen accession as soon as the country has successfully met the required criteria.
Parliament gave the green light for Bulgaria and Romania to join the Schengen area in June 2011 and has reiterated its position several times since.
Currently, Bulgaria and Romania apply the Schengen acquis partially and checks are carried out at their borders. The final decision on whether the two countries can become full members of the Schengen area has to be made through a unanimous vote in the European Council by EU ministers.
The Schengen area comprises 26 European states that have officially abolished passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders.