Bucharest – PSD General Secretary Paul Stanescu released the following statement on Romania’s accession to the Schengen area.
“The idea of European solidarity, which is invoked these days by the president of the European Commission, Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, and other European officials, is beneficial. However, continued efforts by the Netherlands to keep Romania out of the Schengen area contrasts the idea of solidarity and risks turning into hypocrisy and a double standard.
I said last week that Romania deserves to enter the Schengen area with dignity, without bowing to the Netherlands.
That is why we have legitimate expectations that the European states will take all necessary steps to ensure that the Netherlands does not make itself a laughingstock by blocking the freedom of movement of Romanians. These days, the Romanians, the European Union states, and the members of the European Parliament have seen how it puts economic and political interests above the idea of unity in the EU.
Every day that Romania is not in Schengen, the Netherlands undermines the idea of European solidarity. Romania has clear pro-European positions and is not allowed to enter Schengen, while other member countries have quite serious problems with the rule of law. Moreover, there are European states that are not in the European Union but have access to freedom of movement. For Romania, at this moment, when it has made all the necessary technical and political efforts, it is a matter of national dignity.
On the other hand, the USR should be ashamed of being in a European political family with parties that mock the dignity of Romanians. If they were patriots, they would make any significant political gesture to show that they are in solidarity with Romania’s interests, not just with those of the Renew group, of which they are a part. Maybe he should even suspend or leave the Renew group, to put pressure on those who treat us with arrogance and superficiality.
We will continue to stand in solidarity with the projects of the European Union, both regarding the energy crisis and in other aspects, but we are waiting to see this European solidarity at work in the relationship with the Netherlands.”
