Romania and Bulgaria will keep cooperating for dismantling migrant smuggling networks, Minister of the Interior Catalin Predoiu said after having a strategic meeting on the Schengen topic with his Bulgarian counterpart at the ongoing Salzburg Forum Conference.
At the Salzburg Forum Ministerial Conference organized by the Bulgarian Presidency on October 23 - 24 in Sofia, Romanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Catalin Predoiu had a bilateral meeting with Bulgarian Minister of the Interior Atanas Ilkov.
"We have organized an intense and close cooperation between the two states' border police and the judicial police. We will continue to take down networks of migrant traffickers. The statistical results of the last 12 months are very good, illegal migration in Romania has decreased by over 75% compared to the previous year. We have two strong arguments for our 'Land Schengen' 2024 bid: the performance in combating illegal migration and the flawless application of the 'Air and Maritime Schengen' procedures," Predoiu said, as cited in release from the Interior Ministry.
The talks were in the line of the consolidated dialogue with the Bulgarian side on the subject of Romania and Bulgaria's full Schengen accession and envisaged the coordination of the positions of the two states for their Schengen admission with their land borders until the end of this year, as well as the stage of operative bilateral cooperation, with focus on combating illegal migration and organized crime.
The Romanian minister remarked that the step taken last year with the lifting of air and sea border controls is very important in the perspective of a full Schengen entry, but, at the same time, Romania must be prepared to apply all the procedures of the Schengen codes also after the moment of its land border integration, including to exercise border controls whenever the situation requires it.
"We continue to act along diplomatic avenues, in a diligent and constructive manner, in order to capitalize on these arguments and generate a positive decision as soon as possible. We are working very well with our Bulgarian, Serbian, Hungarian and Austrian colleagues on bilateral programs," said Interior Minister Predoiu.
He and his Bulgarian counterpart pointed out that the very good results on the ground and the successful operations carried out jointly to combat illegal migration and cross-border crime prove that the decision regarding Romania and Bulgaria's Schengen entry with their land borders must be taken in 2024.
"As far as bilateral cooperation in the field of internal affairs is concerned, the sides emphasized that it is unfolding at a very good level, considering the priorities of the two states regarding the securing of the common border and the takedown of crime rings that facilitate the trafficking of migrants in the region or across Europe," the cited source said.
In conclusion, the two sides agreed to keep up a steady bilateral dialogue and to continue discussions with the Hungarian Presidency of the EU, the European Commission, as well as with the European partners to push for the full accession of the two countries to the Schengen Area by the end this year.