The subject of Romania and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area must be put back on the agenda of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, because the free movement area would work better if the two countries were part of it, said Spain’s ambassador in Bucharest, José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano, in an exclusive interview with CaleaEuropeană.ro on the occasion of Spain taking over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the next six months.
“Spain fully supports Romania’s accession to Schengen. At the December Council (n.r. – when Romania’s Schengen accession was voted down), my interior minister was very vocal and regretted the way the dossier was handled, because the European Union is a community of rules, and some member states did not respect them at the time”, said the Spanish ambassador.
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano stressed that Spain, as Presidency, is a honest broker working at all levels to reach a consensus.
“The issue needs to come back to the Council. We cannot leave this subject as something that does not exist. (…) We believe that we would do a better job with Romania and Bulgaria already in the Schengen area (…) Being part of Schengen is nothing but the normal outcome that should come at the end of a process where all the criteria have been met. You can rely on that. We will work hard and we will try to succeed in this dossier”, promised Pérez-Solórzano, stressing that a possible change of government in Spain following the early elections on 23 July will not change the agenda of the Spanish Presidency.
The Spanish representative in Bucharest also detailed the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, indicating that a final agreement on the Migration and Asylum Pact is one of the most difficult issues.
He said that these priorities have been flexibly constructed to anticipate challenges that may arise on the international scene, referring to the re-industrialisation of Europe and European strategic autonomy, the ecological transition, the social pillar of the European Union and maintaining and strengthening European unity.
Speaking about the EU enlargement agenda, José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano said that if the European Commission’s reports in October are favourable to opening EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, then the EU states must decide accordingly. “This accession process is based on merit and if they have done their job, we should do ours,” he stressed, noting that “it is time to start new discussions about how we see Europe with so many member states”.
On Ukraine, the Spanish ambassador referred to the “strong signal” of support given by the visit of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to Kiev on the first day of the Spanish presidency, and on the Republic of Moldova, Pérez-Solórzano said that the fact that “Chisinau has already made progress on three of the nine issues is mainly due to Romania’s support”.
Full interview available below:
CaleaEuropeană.ro: Buenos días, señor embajador, y gracias por esta entrevista con Calea Europea.
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: Bună ziua! Mulțumesc frumos to you and to your channel to give me this opportunity.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: Mr. Ambassador, Spain takes the helm of the EU Council Presidency for the 5th time. First time, in 1989, Spain held the Presidency at a crucial moment for the unification of our European Union, with the fall of the Iron Curtain and the demise of communist era in Central and Eastern Europe. Now, we are after 16 months since Russia has brought war back in Europe with its illegal invasion against Ukraine and the first action of the Spanish Presidency was a visit of PM Pedro Sanchez in Kyiv. What are your plans in the next six months in Ukraine’s support?
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: Thank you very much for your question. Well, before entering into the topic of Ukraine’s support, as you said it is our fifth presidency. All the Spanish presidencies have been very fruitful, even in 1989. It was only three years since our accession to the European Union. It was during our presidency that the idea of social and economic cohesion was born. In 1995, during our second presidency, Schengen started its path with only seven members. In December 1995, in Barcelona, the name of the Euro for the common currency was adopted. In 2002, there was the biggest enlargement of the European Union from 12 to 27 states. In 2010, even with the big financial crisis, we had the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, and the positive reinforcement of the European foreign and security policy. So, the Spanish presidencies of the Council have definitely pushed forward the European project.
Coming back to your question, indeed, the visit of President Sanchez to Kiev, as the very first move of our presidency, gives a very strong signal of our commitment as Europeans and as Spaniards. The idea of Mr. Sanchez was to reassure Mr. Zelenskyy of the continuous support of Spain and of the EU in all the areas, financial support, military support, monetary support, for as long as it takes. At the same time, President Sanchez once again backed the peace project of Mr. Zelensky, saying that is the only real one at present. And finally, President Sanchez made clear the commitment of the Spanish presidency to work so that all the people that have committed illegal actions during this illegal aggression of Putin against Ukraine are held accountable. So, as I’ve said, it was a very strong sign from the political point of view to tell the Ukrainians that we are with them and we will remain hand on hand with Ukraine during this presidency.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: While Ukraine is high on the agenda, the Spanish Presidency occurs one year before the European Elections, and your country has stressed the importance of European unity. What are the main priorities for your Council presidency? How will you manage to bring Europe forward?
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: We will be very attentive to whatever changes can happen in the international arena during our presidency. We have conceived these priorities during the last two years in a flexible manner in order to adapt to any possible change that could come during our presidency. The main lines of our priorities have to do with the reindustrialization of Europe and the European strategic autonomy, the green transition, the social pillar of the European Union and keeping and strengthening the European unity.
With these priorities, we also want to enhance the most important idea: to bring Europe closer to our citizens. So when we are speaking about open strategic autonomy, we are speaking about the hard times we went through during the pandemic with the masks supply for example, or the deficit the European Union has in medicines. Reindustrialization means as well to localize in Europe important industries in the main fields: robotics, artificial intelligence, microprocessors, all the industries related to the digital transition. At the same time the green transition is an obligation for all of us. To cope with climate change is not only a moral obligation. It is seen in Spain as an opportunity, we can reduce electricity bills for companies and consumers by implementing renewable energies and developing these sectors. We can create jobs, we can be at the same time leaders in the climate change and in this struggle of the planet. So, Europe has always been in the forefront in this idea. Concerning citizens, as I said, reducing the electricity bills will be one of the points we will try to achieve by making the overall energy system more stable. And, at the same time, we will push forward the Social Pillar. Economic growth is good, but it must be felt by our citizens. Those good macroeconomic figures must be reflected in our day to day lives. Proper financing of the welfare state will be another point of our commitment with a special attention on minors, on women suffering situations of violence, the EU disability card or the directive for Platform workers. And finally, when we speak about strengthening the unity of Europe, we mean keeping the unity and the solidarity that we have shown to Ukraine and to all the countries affected by the terrible consequences of the illegal war against Ukraine. This has to be done by consensus and above all strengthening our European values.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: Some of these priorities – like the EU pact on migration, debt rules and reducing the European Union’s dependence on third countries – require a lot of effort in building consensus. Which one do you consider to be the most difficult, the most pressing and the most challenging act and priorities you must fulfil?
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: All of them are very challenging, but at the same time, the EU has always shown the muscle to build consensus if all member states work in a united and responsible manner. It will take more or less time to get to this common position where all the interests are reflected in the consensus reached. The most recent difficulties we saw, for instance, were related to the Migration and Asylum Pact last week in the European Council. Migration is going to be there for long and we cannot keep working like we have done in the past. We need new rules in order not only to tackle irregular migration or illegal migration but to tackle legal migration in Europe. I hope that by working hard in this dossier with all the stakeholders, member states, the European Commission, and the European Parliament we will get to a good end at the end of the semester
CaleaEuropeană.ro: You spoke about consensus and the legacy Spain brings from its previous EU Presidencies. While managing Europe, Spain is also struggling with a nationwide political moment – the snap elections called by Prime Minister Sanchez. We know that it’s not the first case when member states have national elections during their EU Presidencies, but the questions remains: will there be changes in handling the Presidency if the current center-left government loses power to the center-right or this a broader political agreement in Spain when it comes to Europe?
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: I think we are most in your second scenario. I think Spain has shown, during this long period in the European Union, a very strong pro-European spirit and and this trait has been present independently of the color of the governments in Spain. So I can reassure everybody that even if there is a change in the political panorama after the elections on 23rd of July, the commitment of the Spanish Presidency, with the priorities already established, will continue.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: A week ago, the President of the European Council has announced the start of political dialogue for the 2024-2029 Strategic Agenda with the EU enlargement in the center of the debate and with the aim to decide what type of geopolitical and economic powerhouse Europe wants to be. Spain will organize an informal summit of the European Council and the 3rd summit of the European Political Community, in Granada. The aim is to bring the enlargement agenda forward. What are your objectives on this matter, with focus on Western Balkans, Ukraine, and Moldova? Is the time of reform and preparing EU enlargement now?
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: The European Union is an ongoing project. We should support those countries that share our values and our vision of Europe and that want to tie their future to the European Union.
And this is the situation today with the three cases you mentioned, the Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova. It is time too to start conversations about how we see Europe with such a big number of member states. Will we have the same number of Commissioners? Will we have the same procedure of decision making? How can we advance if a consensus is difficult at 27? It was at 12 and 15 members difficult, but how can we build a decision-making process that will make a European Union operational for these countries and for their aspirations when they enter the European Union. In the Balkans we expect more progress. The process is taking too long, but there is still work to do in order to fulfill all Copenhagen criteria.
Ukraine and Moldova are doing a very good job, under very difficult circumstances. We have taken good note of the very recent oral report of the European Commission before the formal report in October and we have seen that both countries are trying to do their best and have shown very good progress. I hope we will have the opportunity to speak about enlargement in an optimistic way and at the same time managing adequately the expectations of the citizens of the countries involved.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: Mr. Ambassador, you are not just the Spanish diplomatic representative to Romania, but also to Moldova. When it comes to the Republic of Moldova, we, Romanians, have a special attachment. How important is your cooperation with Romania with regards to Moldova? Do you think both Chișinău and Kyiv will get this year the decision for opening accession negotiations?
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: For me it is an honor to be the Spanish ambassador in the Republic of Moldova. I’ve been there twice. I would love to be there more often. And I hope to be there for this Presidency. Spain considers Moldova already a priority and we are committed to open a full-fledged embassy in Chișinău, as soon as possible.
Romania and Moldova are neighbors and very close partners. Romania has contributed a lot by helping Moldova from the very beginning in the difficult circumstances the country is living because of the war of aggression of Putin against Ukraine. Our cooperation with Romania in that dossier is strong because we highly value Romania´s input and assessment about how things are in Moldova and how they see the evolution of Moldova. A big effort was already carried out by Romania supporting the will of Moldova to access the European Union and some positive results have been reflected in the oral report we already mentioned.
If Moldova has advanced already in three dossiers of the nine established is mainly thanks to the support of Romania in dealing with this topic. I think the rest of the member states are conscious of the weight and political say that Romania has in relation to Moldova and the initiatives that Romania is promoting. Ukraine and Moldova have already expressed a will and for us it is the moment to deliver. Let’s wait until October, see the Commission reports, and manage this topic accordingly.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: If the report the report will be positive, we can hope for a positive decision in the European Council, in December?
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: It could be. As we always say, this process of accession is merit-based and if they have done their job, we should do ours as well.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: Mr. Ambassador, here in Romania we have a saying. It’s called “cireașa de pe tort”. In English is “the cherry on the cake”.
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: Don’t tell me… It’s Schengen.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: Our last question is about Schengen, indeed. Putting in a nutshell the priorities of the Spanish EU Council Presidency, the overall European landscape, the national elections coming up in Spain and a paramount objective of Romania – to finally become a member of the Schengen area – you mentioned a few days ago that you aim to put the topic on the agenda this fall. What kind of assurances can you give to Bucharest?
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: The first thing, and Romania already knows it because I have stated it many times, is that Spain fully supports the accession of Romania to Schengen. At the Council in December, my Minister of Interior was very vocal regretting the way the file had been handled because the European Union is a community of rules and some member States did not stick to them at that moment.
We are now Presidency of the Council. We are what in English is called an “honest broker”. We are mediators, we are working at all the levels very closely with all the member states, with the Commission and with our Ministry of Interior in order to reach consensus. The topic must go again to the Council. We cannot leave this topic like something that does not exist. It’s very important.
Schengen must function properly. It is not functioning properly so far, because there are internal border controls for example. We think that we would do our work better with Romania and Bulgaria already in the Schengen space. They are already being an external border of the Union and they are already doing their part. So being part of Schengen is nothing but the normal outcome that should come at the end of a process in which all the criteria have been met. You can count on that. We will work hard and we will try to have the success in this dossier as in the other ones we have mentioned.
CaleaEuropeană.ro: Mr. Ambassador, thank you for the interview and “buena suerte” with the Spanish Presidency.
José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano: Thank you very much (in Romanian).
