The Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) informs that Romania will continue to consult the EU member states and the current and future EU Presidency so that it can accede to the Schengen Area in 2013, at first with air and maritime borders starting in Q1 next year. MAE will consult both the current Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU and the Irish Presidency that will take over in Q1 of next year. “Romania will continue its consultations with all member states, with the current and future EU Presidency, so that its accession can materialize next year, at first with air and maritime borders in Q1 of 2013,” the MAE points out. Likewise, the MAE points out that a report on the Schengen accession will be presented during the Justice and Home Affairs Council that will take place on Thursday and Friday in Luxembourg. Romania will be represented by Interior Minister Mircea Dusa and by Marian Titulescu, head of the Internal Affairs Minister’s Schengen Department. Nevertheless, a decision on the accession timetable will not be taken. “A report on the stage of the decision on Romania’s and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession will be presented at the JHA Council. The Council will take note of the fact that Romania finished implementing the measures decided by the European Council in March 2012. Those measures include a series of FRONTEX activities on all categories of borders, continuing to make progress in completing the European Border Watch System, contributing to FRONTEX risk analyses and training customs personnel in the detection of false documents,” the MAE informs.
