:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mentormedier/JG5QHAXHMFD5RDQGUBALDB34MM.jpg "Austria vetoed the Schengen extension – Dagsavisen")
Kramer made the announcement while meeting his European counterparts at a European Union Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
At the meeting, ministers are expected to approve Croatia as a new Schengen member.
Bulgaria and Romania want to take part in the passport-free Schengen cooperation.
The Schengen area currently comprises 26 European countries, including Norway. Among these countries there is usually no passport control.
The largest EU countries have previously made it clear they want Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria to join Schengen. The European Commission also emphasized that all three countries must be allowed to be part of the cooperation.
Austria’s foreign minister said that when he wanted to vote against, the reason was the increasing migration problem. In contrast, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin believes that if the countries are allowed to join, it will strengthen the protection of Schengen’s outer borders.
– The countries are European, and they have gone to great lengths to protect their external borders. That protection could be strengthened if they were included in Schengen, he told Danish news agency Ritzau.
The Netherlands is also skeptical about letting the three countries join.
Countries cannot join without all Schengen countries agreeing to let them in.
[ Den norske gigantgruva kan få nytt liv og skaffe 450 arbeidsplasser – men vil noen jobbe her? ]
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