Le Drian: Our desire is to expand Schengen; we are in a very favorable disposition for Romania

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday that France wants to expand the Schengen area under its current presidency of the Council of the European Union, Agerpres reports.

"I would like to remind you of our position, which you know very well. It is important to control our borders together. The spirit of Schengen - free movement - involves close border control, one does not go without the other and it is essential to deeply reform Schengen firstly to strengthen its governance and to ensure that control mechanisms are rigorous and strengthened in all their dimensions. That is what want to achieve this during the French Presidency, and this is where our desire to expand Schengen comes in. We know that Romania is interested in this expansion. We are in a very favorable disposition in this regard for both Romania and Bulgaria and Croatia," Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a joint conference with Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu.

At the beginning of January, France took over the six-month presidency of the EU Council.