President Iohannis: Only country against Romania joining Schengen area is Romania itself

The only country that is against Romania joining the Schengen area is Romania itself said president Klaus Iohannis this Monday in an interview for Calea Europeana quoted by Hotnews. He explained that this is done through actions such as the attempt to pass the now infamous Emergency Ordinance no.13 this January which would have partially decriminalized low-level government corruption.

“The only country that is against Romania joining the Schengen area is Romania itself though the unfortunate way in which it is being government, through emergency ordinances such as OUG 13. There are still issues to be tackled in the judiciary,” said the president.

He added that never before has the EU been confronted by as many threats at the same time as it is today. These include economic developments, Brexit as well anti-EU trends and Euroscepticism.

Learn what Brexit means for Romania

Iohannis has also said that politicians who attack the EU haven’t understood “what’s the deal with the rule of law”.

“The positions of politicians who argue against the EU or Brussels do us no good. They confirm that we have a lot of politicians who haven’t understood what the rule of law is all about and that we have politicians who have negative nationalistic tendencies,” went on Iohannis.

He added that such Eurosceptic attitudes help no one and in fact they do a lot of harm. “We don’t have enemies in the EU, on the contrary, we have a lot of friends,” added Iohannis according to the same source.