President Klaus Iohannis responded to Romanian voices calling for a boycott of Austrian goods and companies after Vienna voted against Romania’s Schengen accession, saying he preferred a diplomatic solution that would not involve the EU court.
Last week, Austria was the only Schengen member state to cast its veto to deny Romania’s joining the visa-free club, resulting in many voices in Romania calling for a boycott on Austrian products and companies in response.
But according to Iohannis, “there will be no boycotting against Austria by the state or public authorities” as a diplomatic solution rather than a political dispute is preferred.
Still, Iohannis criticised Austria for singling out Romania, and Bulgaria.
“The culprits are not found in Bucharest, nor Romania,” Iohannis said before the EU-ASEAN summit in Brussels, noting that the Austrian government changed its opinion almost overnight due to domestic political issues.
“There were no new conditions from Austria to Romania, but from the European Commission. But Austria’s argument was not built against Romania or Bulgaria. They used this stage (the JHA Council – e.n.) to show that they have too many migrants and the Schengen area should not be expanded,” Iohannis added.
Iohannis also said that Romania will not take the matter before the EU Court in Luxembourg, adding that he will present the issue before the European Council later this week despite this being a matter for EU justice ministers to decide in future JHA councils.
Austria’s veto will likely result in a rise in Euroscepticism in Romania as it will make people feel like “second-class citizens”, the president said, hoping that once a solution comes up, people will see Austria’s vote as “a syncope, not a rejection”.
(Bogdan Neagu | EURACTIV.ro)
Source: euractiv.com
