Talks on Romania's full Schengen accession are making progress, Foreign Affairs Minister Luminita Odobescu told a press conference on Monday, stating that she is "optimistic" about the outcomes."An official decision regarding the final, full entry to the Schengen Area must go through a series of mandatory institutional steps. We are optimistic, but we are still working in this direction and I can say that the outlooks are positive due to Romania's readiness not only in what concerns the fulfillment of the accession criteria, something that is already known, but also thanks to what we did in terms of protecting the EU's external borders, to the permanent and constant dialogue we had with the other states, and to our contribution to ensuring the security of the external borders," the Romanian top diplomat said.Odobescu said that "the last months' results in considerably reducing and, in particular cases, even in eliminating illegal migration in the region are also due to the considerable efforts put in by Romania together with its external partners."The foreign minister said that at his meeting on November 22 in Budapest with his Bulgarian and Austrian counterparts, the Romanian minister of the interior will discuss the exact Schengen accession calendar and the technical details."It's encouraging that the new European Commissioner for Migration has set himself as a goal for his term the completion of this process," Odobescu pointed out.Regarding Romania's inclusion in the Visa Waiver program, the foreign minister said that there is "significant progress"."We are optimistic, the signals are positive, but there are still a number of procedural steps. This month we will receive an assessment mission of the American authorities, after which the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security and the American Congress must go through a series of internal procedures, which we hope will be completed in a reasonable time, so that next year the Romanian citizens can enjoy Romania's full Visa Waiver status," detailed Odobescu. (Photo: www.mae.ro)
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