Schengen – Hungary will veto Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen Area if Sofia does not remove the transit tax for Russian gas, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday in a statement, Reuters reports. While Western European countries have made great efforts to get rid of Russian gas, landlocked Hungary has received 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Russia under a deal signed in 2021, mainly via Bulgaria and Serbia. We recall that at the European Council on Friday in Brussels, the Netherlands officially announced that it agreed with Bulgaria’s entry into the European area of free movement. In this context, the only country that should change its position and accept the accession of Romania and Bulgaria – states that technically meet the necessary criteria – to Schengen is Austria. Over the last year, Vienna has spoken out against the enlargement of the free movement area, citing the fact that it is not functional as many unregistered migrants arrive in central and western Europe. Late last year, Austria voted against the accession of either country in the Schengen area, while the Netherlands opposed only Bulgaria.
Alert – The population of several communes in Tulcea county, in the south-east of Romania, received a new RO-ALERT warning message on the night of Saturday to Sunday about the possibility of objects falling from the airspace, in the context of the war started by Russia against neighboring Ukraine. Citizens were advised to take protection and shelter measures, if the situation required it. According to the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, the structures responsible for the defense of the territory of Romania and NATO have identified possible attacks on some Ukraine targets in the border area with the Romanian state. Following the RO-ALERT message, no call was received to signal the fall of objects on the territory of Romania. We recall that three days ago, a drone used by Russia in the attack on the Ukrainian region of Odesa fell near the border with Romania, in the area of a locality in the same county. The, too, the citizens received a warning message.
