Justice and Home Affairs Council

Acting Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev emphasized the importance of ensuring that border control institutions are fully prepared to reorganize their operations should Bulgaria's Schengen membership be approved in December.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced today that a decision regarding Romania's entry into the Schengen Area for land borders may be made before the second round of the country's presidential elections, scheduled for December 8, and could be finalized by the end of the year.

Migration policy in most European Union member states has become a nagging issue, heard not just as far away as Brussels but also as far away as Luxembourg, where the 27 interior and justice ministers of EU member states are meeting today.

Romania anticipates a pivotal moment in its Schengen area accession on January 24, coinciding with the upcoming Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting. As per the analysis by "Adevarul," MEP Eugen Tomac presses President Klaus Iohannis to take a stand in the European Council should firm assurances regarding Schengen not be forthcoming.

Romanian Prime Minister Ion-Marcel Ciolacu underscored that Romania's stance on its Schengen file hinges on the Netherlands' stance toward Bulgaria's entry into the European Schengen area. Speaking to Agerpress and Digi24, Ciolacu highlighted the recent Dutch elections on November 22 as a factor affecting parliamentary voting procedures.

Sweden's permanent representative to the EU, Lars Danielsson, whose country has taken over the rotating presidency of the Union since January 1, has said that he will not initiate a vote on Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen admission in the EU Council until an agreement is reached with the countries that opposed of their accession.

The Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union has invited the Ministers of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania to Prague on September 13 to discuss the accession of the three Balkan countries to the Schengen Area, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported citing Romanian MP Rares Bogdan.

More than 100 members of the European Parliament are calling on the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) and European Union interior ministers to take immediate action to end the ongoing humanitarian crisis on the Greek islands where more than 46,000 migrants live in shelters that have a total capacity of 8,000 people.

Sofia, Athens and Nicosia are consolidating their positions on the migratory wave in the Eastern Mediterranean. They want more adequate and effective support from the European Union, since the severity of this problem falls most precisely on these three countries, which are the places where there is the greatest migrant pressure. This was reported by the Ministry of Interior press center.

Romania's Interior Minister Carmen Dan said on Thursday migration challenges cannot be tackled by a single country, as the recent past has indicated, opening an EU-Africa conference on migration in Brussels.