The issue of migration and Romania’s accession to the Schengen area were among the topics addressed by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Lucian Bode, and the Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum, Panagiotis Mitarachi, who is visiting Romania.
“The subjects we addressed were related to migration issues and Romania’s accession to the Schengen area. In this context, I thanked Greece for the constant support offered to Romania, as well as for its active involvement in solving this issue, under the conditions in which Schengen expansion will represented a real and concrete benefit both for Romania and for the rest of the member states”, Minister Lucian Bode wrote on Wednesday on his Facebook page, Agerpres informs.
According to the minister, accession to the Schengen area remains an extremely important objective for Romania, and discussions on this subject will be continued together with the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council, on the sidelines of the JHA Council in Stockholm, in order to identify a solution as soon as possible.
“Regarding the issue of migration, as the main priority of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, I mentioned that the involvement of external partners in migration management efforts is extremely important, and our actions must primarily target the management of this phenomenon at its source, for the promotion of sustainable and efficient solutions”, said Bode.
During the discussions, the two officials agreed that there is a need for better protection of the EU’s external borders, faster and more efficient procedures for the return policy, more effective measures for the fight against traffickers and closer cooperation with third countries.