Greek, Romanian MEPs, Bulgarian MP call on lifting Schengen land border control

MEPs Vlad Gheorghe, Dacian Ciolos (Romania) and Georgios Kyrtsos (Greece) and Bulgarian MP Daniel Lorer have sent a joint letter to Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum Dimitris Kairidis recommending him to propose, during the informal meeting of justice and home affairs ministers taking place on Thursday and Friday in Brussels, lifting the Schengen land border control between Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, Agerpres correspondent reports.The signatories bring to the attention of Minister Dimitris Kairidis a number of arguments why they see this appeal to be timely and why they call for controls to be lifted as soon as possible."Firstly, since 2011, the European Commission has systematically reiterated that Bulgaria and Romania are ready for full Schengen membership. Secondly, the European Parliament has issued numerous resolutions and reports calling for full Schengen membership, which have been supported by an absolute majority of the House," say the signatories of the letter.Another argument they put forward is that representatives of the Greek tourism and HORECA sectors are asking for the lifting of land border controls to facilitate the arrival of Romanian and Bulgarian tourists in Greece. This would become a very important factor of economic development, especially in the northern parts of Greece, provided that the land border becomes fully open before the summer season.Fourthly, land border controls between the three countries that are officially in the Schengen area are currently still causing huge losses to transport companies and tourists in terms of travel costs, lost financial gains and time. This is a factor that cannot be underestimated in the context of the economic crisis and unprecedented inflation.''Fifthly, lifting the border would immediately improve the environmental parameters of the areas concerned, thus contributing to the EU objective of reducing CO2 emissions, air pollution and related diseases,'' the letter shows.They also believe that the swift and decisive implementation of the proposal will enhance mutual trust among the three member states and increase the efficiency of their cooperation within the EU. ''This proposal responds to the needs of the citizens and it is our responsibility to overcome the difficulties and offer the citizens of our countries maximum benefits based on good neighbourly relations,'' they add.The main topics of the informal meeting of EU interior ministers are migration, the fight against drug trafficking, disinformation and the situation of Ukrainian citizens who arrived in the European Union because of the war launched by Russia against Ukraine on 24 February 2022.