Scholz confirms support for Bulgaria and Romania joining Schengen

A year and a half after taking office, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made his first bilateral visit to Austria.

Scholz was received by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in Salzburg on August 18. During the meeting, Nehammer and Scholz addressed the issue of border controls within the Schengen area and discussed the prospects for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, the Vienna.at reported.

Regarding Austria's blocking of the accession of the two countries to the Schengen area, Scholz confirmed the German position that Berlin supports Sofia and Bucharest on the way to Schengen.

For his part, Nehammer highlighted that, for the first time within the European Union, Bulgaria's "incredibly big challenges" regarding migration "because of its long external border with Turkey" are becoming increasingly relevant.

Nehammer noted again the political projects between Austria and the two Balkan countries to protect borders more effectively and to provide EU-wide assistance.

"For a long time Bulgaria was left alone to defend the very long EU external border in the fight against illegal migrants, in which Bulgarian police officers died," he recalled, but did not point to any forthcoming solution from Austria regarding the blockage.

"Germany continues to carry out border controls with Austria, which shows that the Schengen system is not functioning structurally," Nehammer said earlier on the eve of the meeting with Scholz. He also noted the need to "consider the EU's further course of action in the fight against illegal migration, as well as intra-European border controls and the functioning of Schengen."

His German counterpart stressed that border controls with Austria were "necessary" given current migration figures.

At the same time, Scholz expressed confidence that the new EU asylum mechanism currently being negotiated and the agreements with countries of origin and transit would lead to improved migration figures in Europe. The two chancellors touched on the problem that asylum seekers coming to Austria and Germany via Hungary in particular are largely not registered at the EU's external border, contrary to current regulations.