Romanian President Takes Responsibility For Schengen Entry Failure

"I take responsibility for the Schengen issue. All institutions have done their jobs and reports show we have met all the technical criteria," Basescu told B1TV in an interview.

Basescu underscored there have been states that said it is unacceptable Romania's EU accession treaty is not observed given the Netherlands and Finland's opposition to the country's Schengen entry.

"We have treated the issue carefully. We did not succeed in persuading them, although (Justice Minister Catalin) Predoiu ahs made a good impression in the Dutch Parliament. But what can diplomacy do when the Government notes gypsies begging aggressively in Finland? It all comes down to a reaction of public opinion," the president said.

Asked whether he agrees with the opposition, which has called for the dismissal of Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi, Basescu said such a demand would have been justified if the diplomatic corps had not done its job, but that is not the case.

A decision on Romania and Bulgaria's Schengen accession has been postponed Thursday, as the matter was not put to the vote at the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) held in Brussels.

The Polish Presidency of the European Union did not put the matter to the vote to avoid a negative decision, which would have entailed resuming a part of the Schengen accession legal procedures.

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