The mayor of Timisoara, Dominic Fritz, a German citizen, spoke live on Austrian national television, where he stated that the Austrian government is making a historic mistake regarding the negative vote for Romania’s accession to the Schengen area.
Dominic FritzPhoto: Facebook
“Last night I broadcast live the news of the Austrian national broadcaster, ORF, and spoke once again about the urgent need for Romania to be accepted into Schengen today. The Austrian government is making a historic mistake with its veto,” wrote Fritz on Facebook.
In the message broadcast by Austrian television, the mayor of Timișoara states that, by blocking Romania’s entry into Schengen, the Austrian government would be committing “a grave error”, Austria being the only EU country that would block this very important step towards European integration.
- “I am the mayor of a city that will be the European Capital of Culture next year. A city that used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, nicknamed little Vienna, Timișoara. And I myself am a mayor born and raised in Germany. And with all this, because there is this wonderful EU, the people of Timisoara elected me mayor two years ago.
- My appeal is: the people of Timisoara, two years ago, broke down a barrier, and it’s really time for the Europeans to break down a barrier too. This is the Schengen barrier, which simply doesn’t fit in today’s Europe,” Timisoara Mayor Dominic Fritz told the Austrian TV channel.
He also said that Romania is not on the Balkan migration route and that if there are problems, “maybe they should also be discussed with Greece”, which is part of the Schengen zone.
- “Of course, we need to find solutions to the challenges of migration policies.
- But the solution cannot be to deny millions of Europeans equal access to the EU. Because Romanians and Bulgarians are not second-class European citizens. These two issues have nothing to do with each other,” said the mayor of Timișoara as well.
