Romania is not ready to join the Schengen area as of January 1, 2014, according to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius (in picture).

Fabius, made the comments in response to a question by a French MP from the far-right National Front in the National Assembly.

"If there is not a change in conditions, we won't be in favour," Fabius, a former French PM, added.

"People coming from outside Europe could enter Romania and Bulgaria and then freely enter the rest of Europe," the French minister told France Inter radio.

The comments came amid heated political discussions in France centered on the Roma immigration issue.

French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault recently said integrating the Roma can be done by respecting the French laws.

The debate on this issue precedes the upcoming municipal and European elections, as some 20,000 Roma migrants from Romania and Bulgaria live in camps on the outskirts of French cities.

The far-right National Front have made the Roma immigration issue a central piece of their campaign in the municipal elections.

Romania and Bulgaria have been awaiting to join the Schengen area, after seven years of transition since entering the EU.

But the two countries' joining the border-free area has been constantly blocked by various EU member states, including Finland and the Netherlands, which in September 2011 pointed to the local corruption and the lack of concrete actions against organized crime in both countries.

Earlier this year, Germany too said it would oppose Romania's Schengen entry.

editor@romania-insider.com