Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu is meeting Friday, in Budapest, with his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban, to have consultations regarding the process of Romania's full integration into the Schengen Area.

During the visit, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu will have a one-on-one meeting with his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban, followed by a plenary meeting of the two official delegations and joint press statements. In parallel, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Catalin Predoiu, will have meetings with the Ministers of Internal Affairs of Hungary, Austria and Bulgaria, as well as with Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs of the European Union.

The visit to Budapest of the delegation led by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu takes place in the context in which Hungary holds, until December 31, 2024, the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, having a decisive role in supporting the European agenda for the expansion of the Schengen Area.

"I want to complete my mandate by obtaining the decision on Romania's full entry into Schengen. In this sense, I will meet with my Hungarian counterpart and with officials from Hungary, the country that holds the current Presidency of the EU Council, in order to move forward in this important process for our country. After the completion of the first stage of Romania's accession to Schengen in March 2024, our priority is to we are finalizing this approach by lifting the controls at the land borders by the end of this year. We continue to count on the active support of Hungary to achieve this objective," said Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, according to a Government press release.

The Romanian delegation includes the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs, Catalin Predoiu, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Luminita Odobescu, and Ministers of Transport and Infrastructure, Sorin Grindeanu, Honorary Advisor to the Prime Minister and Vice-President of the European Parliament, Victor Negrescu, and the chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), Kelemen Honor.

On Thursday evening, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu indicated that a decisive meeting will take place in Budapest for Romania's full accession to the Schengen Area, "the essential goal of all Romanians".

"I arrived in Budapest, where a decisive meeting for Romania's full accession to the Schengen area, an essential objective of all Romanians, is taking place tomorrow (Friday ed.n). Just the other day I was in Brussels, at a working meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, which was also attended by the two Romanian Vice-Presidents of the EP, Victor Negrescu and Nicu Stefanuta. We discussed the prospects of Romania's terrestrial accession to Schengen and I was happy with the support of the two of them and the president of the European Parliament for this approach, which does not belong to any particular party, but belongs to Romania! Everyone's priority is the full accession of Romania to Schengen, regardless of the political color," he wrote on Facebook.AGERPRES(RO - editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - editor: Catalin Cristian Trandafir)