Index – Abroad – Confusion over Schengen, hatred of Austria is widespread in Romania

Romania and Bulgaria have been waiting for Schengen accession for 11 years, when the European Commission first announced their readiness for membership, a view already shared by the European Parliament. However, the Dutch delegation asked Mark Rudd’s government Torpedo the Schengen connection of named countriesThey want to analyze the functioning of the rule of law and the suppression of corruption and organized crime in both countries.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Neuhammer struck a common note with them, expressing Croatia’s support for the Schengen area but not extending this to Bulgaria and Romania.

The fact of the veto caused so much anger in Romania that on Thursday evening Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu summoned the Austrian ambassador in Bucharest, the ministry protesting the “unreasonable and unfriendly behavior of Austria”. Vincze Loránt, a member of the European Parliament, said there was no argument to justify the Austrians’ protest.

They have called for a boycott of Austrian products

On Friday evening, about a hundred people gathered in front of the Austrian embassy in Bucharest and were greeted by the gendarmerie. “Thieves, thieves, thieves!” Many chanted You masturbate According to the mayor Dominik Fritz, there was also a demonstration in Timișoara, where people reacted because they did not receive an explanation as to why Austria did not allow Romania into the Schengen area.

That evening, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), announced that the government would continue steps towards Romania’s Schengen accession and would consider pursuing this path separately from Bulgaria.

Meanwhile, well-known Transylvanian merchants called for a boycott of Austrian interests. An agribusiness entrepreneur from Arad County has said directly that he will cancel his accounts with Austrian-owned banks and will not buy fuel from Austrian distributors again, writes Economa.net.

Dimitri Muscă, the owner of Kürtös Agricultural Compine, one of the largest agricultural companies in Romania, encourages Romanian citizens not to buy Austrian products and not to spend money on trips to Austria.

Angry Romans say Austrians are like Nazis

Videos of Erste Bank customers cutting their bank cards with scissors began to circulate on social media, while unknown persons placed signs reading “Náci Bank” and “Nácik=Austria” at the entrance of Raiffeisen Bank’s branch in Cluj.

Oh sucursală Raiffeisen Bank a fost vandalizata de persoane necnognoste! The “Nazi Bank” was left as a message in the evening La Sucursala din Cluj-Napoca. Gestul apare în context in care Romania and ratat intrarea în in Schengen, după refuseul Austrie and Olandei. https://t.co/7xgqXoPYkC

— 100News.Ro (@100newsR) December 9, 2022

At one store, they announced that they would no longer sell energy drinks made by Red Bull.

“This is where Red Bull and Fanner were. Austria didn’t want us in #Schengen, so we decided not to have their products in our store. (…)” #Romania **** pic.twitter.com/Gz0UTWqPzc

— Niels (@NielsHonkoop) December 8, 2022

Members of the Association for the Unification of Romanians staged a demonstration at the OMV fountain, where they demanded that Austrian businesses leave the country immediately, as Vienna is blocking Romania’s access to Schengen.

In Romania, the “Alliance for the Uniting of Romanians” party is demanding that Austrian businesses leave the country – because of Vienna’s blocking of Romania’s accession to Schengen. pic.twitter.com/YVfP9G0nwf

— -///Spriter///- (@Spriter0000) December 12, 2022

It was a little too much for Romanian politicians, and Marcel Ciolagu, head of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), tried to cool the mood. The Chronicle In his report, Marcel Ciolagu drew attention to the fact that a distinction should be made between Romanian and Austrian citizens and between Romanian and Austrian decision-makers. “Austrian companies operating in Romania have Romanian employees,” he added.

Peter Szijardo After the veto, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade also spoke, according to him, Romania and Bulgaria deserve to join the Schengen zone, because they strictly protect their borders and have done a lot to prevent illegal migration. “At this moment, where are the professional whiners, the people who care about the unity of the EU, the MEPs who want to abolish consensus decision-making, the whining journalists of the liberal mainstream, where are the Brussels bureaucrats, the ministers of liberal governments?” – The head of the ministry asked his followers a poetic question, which Manfred Weber agreed with.

“Romania belongs to the Schengen area!” – said the leader of the European People’s Party. As he wrote, he was deeply disappointed by the decision taken at the EU’s Interior and Justice Council meeting last week.

“It’s not fair, it’s not right, I strongly disagree with this decision. Romania deserves to be part of the Schengen area. To achieve this, I will continue to actively cooperate with our Austrian partners to get closer to this goal,” the politician said.

Bucharest’s revenge has arrived

The Main square Romania quickly found a way to override Austria’s veto on Monday. Bucharest has decided not to support the General Secretariat of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) under Austrian leadership.

“If you use the right of veto illegally, don’t be surprised if others do it,” noted PSD head Marcel Ciolagu. This meant that the Austrian embassy could not take over the post of German Helga Maria Schmidt as secretary-general, despite Austria’s strong insistence.

The OSCE unites 57 member states, in addition to the EU countries, the United States, Canada, Ukraine and Russia are members, so it plays an important role in building and maintaining peace in Ukraine.

(Cover photo: Romanian protesters in front of the Austrian embassy in Bucharest on December 9, 2022, after Austria refused to allow Romania to join the EU’s Schengen zone. Photo: MTI / EPA / Robert Ghement)