Romanian President Traian Basescu ha said Romania will not ask to be considered for Schengen separately from Bulgaria, even though reports show Romania has met all technical criteria and Bulgaria hasn’t. "We do not want a split from Bulgaria and we will not seek one," said Basescu after a European Council meeting in Brussels. He added political games to have Romania considered separately would not do anyone any good.

Basescu said he wants official recognition of the fact that Romania has met all the requirements for Schengen entry.

"It's only a matter of months until Bulgaria will have met all the requirements as well. On the other hand, we cannot accept the use of veto rights over Schengen accession (...) and the adding of requirements without being previously consulted. This is the problem: the Cooperation and verification Mechanism has nothing to do with Schengen. We do not yet have a satisfactory report on the mechanism, we admit that, but Schengen criteria are different," Basescu said, according to the release.

He added he doesn't want this situation to create a precedent, reminding that Romania also plans to join the eurozone.

The Schengen Area evaluation group (Sch-Eval) adopted the technical report on Romania's Schengen accession but the reports concerning Bulgaria's Schengen Information System and the Supplementary Information Request at the National Entry (SIS/SIRENE) and land movement were not adopted.

France and Germany opposed bids by Romania and Bulgaria to be accepted into the Schengen zone in the first half of this year, citing concerns with corruption and insufficient border controls. Finland has rallied to the positions of France and Germany and has opposed the two eastern European states' accession to the Schengen area. Finland also joined in opposition.

The Schengen area includes 25 member states and allows passport control-free circulation to their more than 400 million citizens.

Mediafax