"I think it's time for Romania to join the Schengen area. In the first half of 2023, Romania should join," the European Parliament's president Roberta Metsola said in Bucharest.

"What we can do [at the European Parliament] is continue to push for each member to reach the same conclusion," the European official told local news channel Digi24.

On Monday, December 19, the president of the EP, Roberta Metsola also addressed the joint session of the Romanian Parliament. She said she is in Romania in this deeply symbolic moment [when Romania celebrates 33 years since the fall of Communism], with only one appeal: "Don't give up on Europe. Don't give up on us!"

Metsola started a two-day visit to Bucharest on December 19. On Monday, she was received at the Cotroceni Palace by Romania's president Klaus Iohannis and also met with prime minister Nicolae Ciucă and the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, Marcel Ciolacu and Alina Gorghiu.

On Tuesday, December 20, Metsola will participate in a town hall discussion with young Romanians at the University of Bucharest.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)