Austrian insistence on strict control of the Romanian-Bulgarian border is not in the European spirit

Irina Nedeva, BNR

On January 3, 2024, during the program “Horizon until noon” on Bulgarian National Radio, Irina Nedeva interviewed Vladimir Mitev about his new journalistic project, dedicated to Romanian society in the year when Romania has all possible elections, about the specifics of Romanian sovereignism and the country’s attitude towards Ukraine, about fake news related to the reporting in the Bulgarian press of news in the Romanian press about the agreement between Austria, Bulgaria and Romania on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area by air and water. Vladimir also briefly commented on the prospects for Romanian-Bulgarian political relations in 2024.

The conversation also included the Friendship Bridge interview with Răzvan Niculescu, which we published on 1 January 2024. 

2024 promises to be an interesting year for Romania. It will be an election year after a government with a rotation of prime ministers, which the Bulgarian press is using as a benchmark for what’s next in Bulgaria’s governing formula. And, of course, the inevitable context: Bulgaria and Romania in Schengen, with promised air and sea access from March 2024. But when will they get land access too? This will be the subject of my conversation now with my colleague Vladimir Mitev from Radio Bulgaria, who is also the creator of the Friendship Bridge blog, with insightful analysis of the Romanian and Bulgarian political scene. Have a nice day!

Good day.

First, Vlado. Let’s start here. What’s next in your work? Because you’re starting a new project focused on Romania, which I’ll be happy to present on Horizon by Lunchtime. What is your idea?

Yes, thank you for asking. I must say that Romania will have an election year in which Romanians will have all possible elections, i.e. all four types of elections: local, parliamentary, presidential and European. And it seems to me a good opportunity to look at the evolution of Romanian society in general, to have discussions with ordinary people, but also to get a picture of what is changing and what can change in Romania. And yes, indeed, Bulgarian National Radio will receive some of the material I will produce as part of this initiative.

Okay. Now to the macro political picture. Romania is in an election year. What are the expectations? The subject, I will say again, becomes interesting also to the extent that we already make comparisons in the rotation model because of these similar processes in our Nordic neighbour.

I think Romanian society is very interesting, also because there are many different domestic and international interests. In Bulgaria, we are used to seeing it more as very Euro-Atlantic. But it also has significant investment from Western Europe, so a lot of people have direct contact with European money. And when Romania chooses which way to go, these different partnerships that have been developed by different parts of Romanian society have to matter. Probably of particular interest will be the so-called sovereignty: how it will manifest itself in Romania. Maybe not everybody knows what I am talking about. As far as I know sovereignism is a French political science term which is generally linked to nationalism, but it is about nationalism in a European context. In Romania, sovereignism has at the moment maybe 25% or even slightly more approval in society. And many people in the pro-Western elites in Romania are worried that maybe this trend will increase, especially if Donald Trump or another Republican wins the US elections.

Does it mean, in your opinion, a change in the tough support for Ukraine and a turn towards Moscow – if these sovereignist tendencies of isolation from the European course, of seeking one’s own way, of closing in within national borders prevail?

First, the sovereignist parties are unlikely to win a majority in the elections. That is, if they end up governing, they will be in coalition with someone. Yes, Romanian sovereignists have an anti-Ukrainian message. But we have to keep in mind that Romanian society and, especially, the elites are well connected to Euro-Atlantic structures. There is an obvious interest for Romania to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine. In addition, one of the problems of Romanian patriots has been that, for a long time, the Romanian language in Ukraine was considered Moldovan. But this has recently been resolved. So I would say that Romania has a complicated understanding of Ukraine. Perhaps, to some extent, it may also see Ukraine as a competitor. But my view is that the Euro-Atlantic interest will prevail.

I mean, if we can make such a gross generalization, does Romanian nationalism not include a turn towards Moscow, as opposed to Bulgarian nationalism proclaimed as such?

I think Romania is preparing for different scenarios, as each of our countries in the region is doing. And we have to keep in mind that in the US there are signs that the Republicans are getting stronger, which means some changes. And I assume that our countries are also preparing for a possible change of this kind, if it happens.

In other words, we still see a dependence on the external factor figuratively speaking, however wooden this expression may be – as in our country.

Now let’s talk for a moment about Romania and Schengen. I would like to go back to that publication in the Romanian newspaper Adevărul, which led to a storm of reactions in Bulgaria, including the government’s reaction. It has been boasting to itself. This boast was then shattered by the statement of the Austrian Minister of the Interior. Finally, it has now come to the publication of Brussels’ positions and the agreement in detail. 

However, I am very curious if you, Vlado, have managed to check if there is any mention of 2025 as a possible Schengen entry date on land. In the Bulgarian media, the Romanian article was presented as having such an announcement. There was also the phrase that negotiations on Schengen on land could disconnect Romania from Bulgaria. Or was this an invention of the Bulgarian press and translators?

Yes. It seems to me that, lately, fake news – maybe a bit exaggerated, but still fake news, inaccurate information between Bulgaria and Romania, and especially between the media in the two countries, is on the rise. I would suggest any of our listeners, if they want to check, to type “Schengen” and “2025” into the Adeverul search engine and see how many articles come up. There is one article that is from early December, but nothing after Christmas. What was cited as information was just after Christmas. It’s about some year that I don’t know where it appeared in the Bulgarian press. Someone creative may have decided to add it. 

As for the decoupling between Bulgaria and Romania, which worries some of our state or elites so much, I constantly hear Romanian analysts or foreign policy experts explaining that this is not possible. The logic I hear is that, for example, if this were to happen, Romania would have to secure a very large border with Bulgaria, which would require financial resources. In addition, from what I understand, perhaps our Western partners do not themselves have such an interest in separating us. Perhaps there is some sentiment in Romanian society for such a decoupling, but I think it is clear that it would be difficult. And it is unlikely that the Romanian elites really want that at this point.

What does your analysis of the agreement for Bulgaria and Romania, announced in the last hours of 2023 in Brussels, actually show? I refer to the five conditions imposed by Austria.

My analysis is that we see in the document those Austrian conditions which, at the beginning of December, were unacceptable to both President Radev and Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov. Finally, it was announced that this agreement was a “victory”. But these conditions are still in it, which probably raises some questions. It is possible that there are various dissatisfactions with this agreement in our society. I personally do not understand the logic of strengthening border controls between Bulgaria and Romania. In my opinion, the idea of the European Union is that borders should be gradually blurred and abandoned, not strengthened.

Are there similar analyses to yours in Romania?

I would suggest listening to one such analysis, an interview I did with Răzvan Nicolescu. Perhaps you will introduce him a bit more. I can say that he is a man who has a well-defined attitude towards the Schengen issue and he is one of the main opinion leaders in Romania when discussing this topic.

Yes, thank you very much to Vladimir Mitev for the opportunity to broadcast the interview he conducted with Răzvan Nicolescu on the agreement between Austria, Romania and Bulgaria for joining the Schengen area. And to complete Răzvan Nicolescu’s business card – he is a former Minister of Energy in Romania and current President of the Clean Energy and Climate Change Association. The NGO he founded is the author of a petition calling for Romania and Bulgaria to be admitted to Schengen, the theses of which were supported by more than 80% of the members of the European Parliament last July, thus turning the petition into a European Union resolution condemning Austria.

In October 2023. Niculescu announced that his organisation had filed an action against Austria at the European Court of Justice, and said, quoted by the Romanian press, that his NGO is asking the court to annul the EU Council decision of 8 December 2022, which left Bulgaria and Romania outside the Schengen area, and is asking Austria to respect the EU’s environmental obligations. This is very interesting. Mr Niculescu is currently a member of the European Council for Foreign Affairs, and our colleague Vladimir Mitev, who remains on the phone to summarise what we heard, spoke to Răzvan Niculescu in the early hours of 2024, shortly after the announcement of the agreement in question between Austria, Romania and Bulgaria on the accession of our two countries to the Schengen area.

Vladimir Mitev: Mr Niculescu, we have a Schengen accession agreement for Bulgaria and Romania between the two countries and Austria. And the European Commission supports it, as announced on 30 December 2023. What are your substantive comments on what you see in the document?

It’s a step ahead in terms of the decision made by the Council via a written procedure. If it was only the decision I would have been satisfied. I am very disappointed with the joint statement made by Bulgaria, Romania and Austria which is an appendix to the decision. I’m not satisfied because there are five new conditions which are not part of the Schengen criteria.

And on top of this, there is also a sixth condition to have access to the land borders, which is the decrease of migration in Austria. This has nothing to do with Romania, has nothing to do with Bulgaria. We are not a neighboring country with Austria. Austria has completely different neighbors, so we cannot be held accountable for the migration coming from somewhere else, from Serbia, from Hungary, from Croatia, from Slovenia, from Italy. 

This is very weird in my view.

Okay, we see that our governments in Bulgaria and Romania present this decision or agreement as victory. At the same time, we see that Austrian conditions which were announced in the beginning of December 2023 have entered completely in this document. So, in fact, what you previously mentioned in another interview before me that our countries have legitimate rights without any conditions to enter in the Schengen area is now being transformed. To what extent this solution is a victory as it is announced, to what extent it is something else?

I don’t like to comment on political statements on both sides. What I can tell you is that the government of Austria has a completely anti-European behavior. And since December 8th, 2022, it’s obvious that they have been acting against the EU basic principles.

We were asked to have more checks between Romania and Bulgaria. This is totally anti-European.

Why do we need to have more checks between Bulgaria and Romania? Who is going to pay for that? And what is the reason? 

Why, if the Romanians want to go and to enjoy the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria next year, why should there be more border checks for them? I don’t understand that. For the same reason, why do the Bulgarians who want to visit the beautiful Romanian Carpathians or the beautiful monasteries from Bucovina need to have more checks? I don’t understand that.

This is purely populism. This has something to do with their internal political agenda and it’s completely anti-European. Our role as a civil society is to make that point and to be very clear on this.

How do you expect that this extra-guarded border between Bulgaria and Romania will influence the flow of people and goods between the countries?

For sure it will not have a positive impact. And again, it’s completely anti-European. And I don’t understand why this was introduced. 

I understand one request coming from them saying: “OK, guys, Bulgarians and Romanians, if there are illegal migrants entering your country and if they arrive in Vienna, then you have to take them back.” That’s fair. In Europe we have to create more solidarity, we have to create more trust. They are asking us to actually put more obstacles between Romanians and Bulgarians. In my view this is totally unacceptable.

What are the chances that Bulgaria and Romania join the land Schengen?

It’s very difficult to say because, again, it’s linked to five new criteria. The Croats were not asked for something like that. So this is totally unfair. It is a discrimination.

But let’s suppose that this is in our hands and it’s not a criteria that we cannot match. So it’s not impossible. But I’m more concerned about the sixth criteria, saying, OK, if you meet the five criteria, then you can join if the migration decreases substantially in Austria. But this is not in our hands.

What can we do to decrease migration in Austria? What can we do if they don’t want to protect their country and if there is no good protection somewhere else?

For example, as I said, in Slovenia, Croatia or Italy or Hungary or Serbia. This is not in our hands. It’s something out of our control. And that’s why it’s totally unfair. 

And to be honest, I expected more from the European Commission. I expected them to act as guardians of the EU principles. They are the guardian of the EU treaty. And I expected them to be more active in sanctioning any deviation from the EU rules, treaties, standards.

In 2023 your NGO attacked Austria in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg over Vienna’s lack of solidarity, presumed abuse of good trust and solidarity principle in the EU and not accepting Bulgaria and Romania into Schengen. What is the situation of this court procedure right now? Where have you reached?

We have two actions in the court. One action is linked to the environmental impact because the trucks waiting at the border between Greece and Bulgaria, between Bulgaria and Romania and between Romania and Hungary, have been producing pollution. They have been generating CO2 emissions. So this is the case  we have in EU court in the first trial and we are in the second trial about the decision made on December 8th 2022. And I look forward to seeing the outcome. 

Our actions are not only for Romania, Bulgaria, but is also for the entire EU. The EU cannot survive with behaviors like the one shown by the Austrian leaders in relation to the accession of Romania and Bulgaria. 

You cannot be abusive. You cannot act in a discriminatory manner. So it’s our right to be part of the Schengen zone. We have been losing money because we are not part of the Schengen zone. We lose somewhere between 0.8 and 2% of our GDP per year. And the Greeks also lose money.

So it’s not only Romania and Bulgaria affected. There are also the Greeks affected. Because they are only, in theory, part of the Schengen zone with the land borders. In reality they can only be part of land Schengen if Bulgaria and Romania join.

So this is the situation, and our action, as I said, is pro-Europe. We have been trying to defend Europe. We have been trying to smash the abusive vetoes that could be so detrimental for the future of our great Union.

Okay, finally, there are some claims that if somebody is skeptical of this agreement, maybe he’s… promoting Russian propaganda. What do you think about that? Is it legitimate to be critical of the current agreement?

Russian propaganda is very present in our countries. It’s a fact. I have no doubts about that.

But also now we have not become crazy. I mean, it’s our right as citizens to comment. Everybody has the right to comment. I make our comments with my soul and I cannot say that white is black and black is white. For me the truth matters.

Irina Nedeva: Romanian expert Razvan Nicolescu în front of his colleague Vladimir Mitev from Radio Bulgaria and Friendship Bridge. I return to the discussion with Vladimir with a final question: what should we expect in terms of relations between Bulgaria and Romania in 2024 – unchanged, with accelerated development or with some kind of turning point?

I believe that both the Romanian ambassador in Sofia and the Bulgarian ambassador in Bucharest are really trying to intensify these relations at the political level. And, as far as I know, in March we will celebrate the first anniversary of the declaration of strategic partnership between the two countries. It seems to me that different gestures and different initiatives will be sought to improve this relationship. And perhaps ways will be sought for the peoples themselves to see mutual cooperation as natural.

Strengthening relations between the two neighbouring countries, Bulgaria and Romania. I would like to thank Vladimir Mitev, my colleague from the Romanian section of Radio Bulgaria, who is also the author of the blog “Bridge of Friendship”, with his insightful analysis of the political and economic situation in the Balkans. Vladimir is starting the new year 2024 with a new project focusing on Romania, which I will be happy to present on Orizonturi at lunchtime.

Photo: (source: Cross-border Talks)

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