PM Orban stresses in Munich full legitimacy of Romania's aspirations for joining the Schengen area

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban stressed, in Munich, the full legitimacy of Romania's aspirations for joining the Schengen area, given that our country has long met the technical criteria in this regard.

The Romanian prime minister participated as a guest of honor on Sunday in the panel discussion "Eurovision Contest: A Europe That Protects", within the Munich Security Conference.

According to a Government press release, Ludovic Orban pointed out that restoring the full functionality of the extended Schengen area is essential for ensuring the internal security of the European Union.

"Prime Minister Orban also highlighted the extremely important role of Romania in defending a significant segment of the European Union border. The Romanian high official went on to evoke the ongoing efforts of the Bucharest authorities to fulfill the conditions for joining the euro area," the press release shows.

The head of the Executive also referred to the special importance of continuing the European Union's enlargement policy with the Western Balkan states, and respectively, of paying greater attention to the Eastern partners, for the external security of the Union.

"As for the ongoing negotiations on the future multi-annual financial framework of the Union, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has insisted on the need to ensure a sufficiently ambitious Union budget to meet the new challenges, but also sufficiently balanced to come to support the EU's classic policies - the cohesion and the common agricultural policy," the Government release mentioned.

The panel discussion saw the participation of the President of Slovakia - Zuzana Caputova, Prime Minister of Croatia - Andrej Plenkovic, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency - Vera Jourova, Vice-President of the European Commission for Promoting the European Way of Life - Margaritis Schinas, as well as Armin Laschet, Prime Minister of the North Rhine-Westphalia, respectively the leader of the German Green Party, Annalena Baerbock. The debate was moderated by Henrik Enderlein, President of the Hertie School of Governance.