Hungary is Romania’s biggest supporter in its bid to join the EU’s passport-free Schengen area, Foreign Minister Szijjártó says

Hungary will prioritize Romania’s bid to join the European Union’s passport-free Schengen area during its six-month EU presidency, the country’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.

Szijjártó spoke in Budapest on Tuesday about the great economic and cultural benefits that Hungary and Romania would experience if the latter joined Europe’s free travel area.

“We have nothing but to gain from Romania’s Schengen membership. That is why we are doing everything we can to ensure that Romania can join the area during the Hungarian presidency of the European Union,” he said.

The measure would not only help businesses on both sides of the border – Szijjártó noted that Romania is an important export market for Hungary – but it would also ensure smoother trade across the border, shorter waiting times at border crossings and be an important step in ensuring that Hungarian minority communities living in Romania feel closer to home.

“We really hope that the Western European countries will not be hypocritical, and that all those who expressed their support for this will actually support it,” Szijjarto said. “And we sincerely hope that those who vetoed Romania’s accession to the Schengen area last time will not stand in the way of European consensus and a common European position this time.”

Despite Budapest’s desire to ease border controls with Hungary’s southeastern neighbour, Szijjártó stressed that Hungary would continue to play its role in the fight against illegal immigration into Europe and organised criminal gangs that profit from it.

Hungary and Romania recently signed an agreement to strengthen cross-border law enforcement cooperation. Szijjártó expressed confidence in Bucharest’s ability to protect the rest of Europe from mass illegal immigration.

If Romania joins Schengen, the European Union’s passport-free external border would extend significantly to the Black Sea. This could increase the pressure on the border between Romania and its southern neighbour Bulgaria. This could become the new entry point to borderless Europe.

Romania and Hungary have continued to work on improving economic relations and transport connections in recent times. This can be seen, for example, in the construction of a high-speed rail network from Budapest to Bucharest. This network is currently being discussed in parliament.