Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Tuesday, July 4th, to request a permanent German military presence in his country, the PM revealed during a joint press conference. Scholz did not commit any troops officially but promised to support Romania’s Schengen membership, which could be finalized before the end of the year.
During their meeting, the two leaders discussed a variety of topics related to their countries’ strategic and economic cooperation, and, in particular, the common security policy on NATO’s eastern flank ahead of the Atlantic Organization’s upcoming Vilnius summit next week.
Shopping for troops
Not long after Lithuania was promised 4,000 German troops to be permanently stationed within its borders—amid growing fears of Wagner’s presence in neighboring Belarus—now Romania seems to be asking for the same.
“I hope that soon we will also have German soldiers on the territory of Romania permanently,” PM Ciolacu said during the press conference, adding that “it is obvious that this will be a long-lasting conflict.”
The prime minister also revealed that the two governments are currently discussing setting up a joint strategic action plan and strengthening their diplomatic relations to cooperate on security matters both bilaterally and on a European level, including a joint lobbying effort to accelerate Ukraine and Moldova’s EU membership process.
For his part, Chancellor Scholz praised the deepening strategic partnership between Berlin and Bucharest but said nothing about committing German troops to the Eastern European country. Romania’s “contribution to strengthening NATO’s eastern flank is exemplary,” Scholz said, calling Bucharest “an important and reliable partner” in addressing Europe’s security needs.
Schengen within reach
The other important issue on the agenda was Romania’s long-anticipated Schengen accession, which has been one of the hottest topics ever since the Netherlands and Austria vetoed the finalization of the process earlier this year, prompting widespread outrage among Romanian public figures and citizens.
The Schengen area includes most European countries that have eliminated all types of border controls between them, letting citizens travel around without passport checks. Several non-EU countries (Norway, Switzerland, and nearly all European microstates) are also Schengen members, which adds to the growing frustration of the last three EU members who are not: Romania, Bulgaria, and Cyprus.
“Germany supports Romania to become a full member of the Schengen Area this year,” Chancellor Scholz stated, adding that Bucharest completed all technical obligations, so there’s no reason to maintain its exclusion.
Scholz also mentioned that Berlin will continue lobbying on behalf of Romanian and Bulgarian accession in the uncooperative capitals, along with the EU Council’s new Spanish presidency, which also considers Schengen enlargement one of its priorities for the next six months.
“We are talking to our skeptical friends and colleagues in Europe, in both formal and semi-official discussions,” Scholz said, adding that in the end, the issue comes down to “fairness and justice.”
