Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated that Austria opposes the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area. He made this statement during the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tirana, https://www.novinite.com/ reports. "The Minister of the Interior made it clear. There is no approval from Austria for the enlargement with Bulgaria and Romania. More time is needed. We have 75,000 unregistered illegal immigrants in Austria. This means that they have crossed the external border of the European Union and ended up in a landlocked country like Austria. We have to answer these security questions first," Nehammer said. The migration issues that Austria is facing are not imputable to Romania, Internal Affairs Minister Lucian Bode said in response to Austria saying it opposes Romania joining the passport-free Schengen area due to the many migrants that pass through the country, euractiv.com reads. “Categorically, Romania should not be undeservedly and unjustifiably punished,” Bode wrote in a Facebook post. Migration flows do not pass Romania and Romania is not the generator of this flow, the minister added, in reply to reports that Austria is the sole obstacle on Romania’s path to Schengen. “Without a doubt, Romania meets all the technical conditions for joining the Schengen area,” said Bode, adding that he discussed with his Austrian counterpart, Gerhard Karner, the matter of Schengen expansion and European migration data. Meanwhile, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer reiterated Vienna’s opposition to Romania and Bulgaria joining the Schengen Area. “More time is needed… there are still many requests from Austria’s part,” the chancellor said on Tuesday, just before the EU-Western Balkan summit in Tirana. According to Austria, more than 75,000 immigrants reach its territory, including through Romania and Bulgaria. Bucharest, however, denies that a large number of migrants have passed its borders. The decision on the extension of the Schengen area will be taken at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs of the EU on Thursday and Friday.
Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) issued a negative opinion on the new bill regarding magistrates’ pensions. The move is only the latest development concerning a heated issue that led to tensions between the executive and the judiciary branch. CSM’s opinion is consultative, and the government led by Ilie Bolojan can still take responsibility for […]
Romania took the presidency of the Central European Initiative (or CEI) on Wednesday, November 26, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). The organization is a regional intergovernmental forum established in 1989, following the fall of the Berlin Wall. It gathers 17 Member States in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe […]
Trade between Romania and Poland continues to grow, with annual bilateral exchanges in goods now valued at more than EUR 12 billion, according to figures presented by the Polish-Romanian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PRBCC). The data was released during a reception in Bucharest marking Poland’s Independence Day and Romania’s National Day. Polish investments […]
As Romania moves closer to implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive, local employers are preparing for one of the most consequential shifts in workplace regulation in over a decade. The directive, set for transposition by June 2026, introduces strict new rules on salary disclosure, pay reporting, and equal-pay verification, aiming to close persistent gender gaps […]
A young Romanian has developed a new system that allows people to return entire bags of recyclable packaging at once, replacing the traditional method of inserting bottles one by one into reverse-vending machines. The concept, called IZI, was created by Ștefan Parascanu, who returned to Romania after studying and working in the United Kingdom. The […]
JTI, the global owner of both Winston and Camel, announced on Thursday, November 27, a plan to build a new, state-of-the-art factory in Ștefăneștii de Jos, Ilfov County. Designed to replace the current Bucharest production site, which is operating under space constraints, the facility is scheduled for completion in 2027. Ground works at the new […]
