Austrian interior minister Gerhard Karner, who, along with Austria's chancellor, opposed Romania's accession to Schengen, will come to Bucharest on April 26, Hotnews.ro announced, quoting sources familiar with the agenda of the visit.

Austria is the sole EU country that opposes Romania's Schengen membership, claiming that the border-free area should not be enlarged (except for Croatia) until better migration control is achieved.

The Austrian minister, who opposed Romania and Bulgaria's accession to Schengen at the end of last year, recently received a visit from his counterpart in Spain as Madrid prepares to take over the EU presidency on July 1 and has vowed to unblock the Schengen expansion dossier.

The Austrian official would reportedly meet in Bucharest his counterpart Lucian Bode. According to the Austrian publication Exxpress, "the main topic will be the migration situation in the EU, in particular the joint fight against migrant trafficking and asylum abuses, as well as the protection of the external borders".

The publication states that, in preparation for his visit to Bucharest, Gerhard Karner had already met with the Romanian ambassador in Vienna and had a video phone call with his Romanian counterpart.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Lucian Bode)