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Doubts are growing about Austria's position not to accept Romania in the Schengen area.

The Romanian president will put the subject of Schengen accession on the agenda of the European Council.

"Speaking for the first time since the negative vote on Romania's accession to Schengen in the Justice and Home Affairs Council last week, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis expressed his disappointment and assured that he would put the topic on the agenda of the European Council later this week. But there won't be another vote anytime soon, he added.

"There will be a debate and there will probably be different opinions, but there will be another vote only when the Justice and Home Affairs Council reconvenes.

Moreover, it is hard to believe that there will be a change on the Austrian side soon," he commented.

Austria has officially cut us off for Schengen

President Iohannis stressed that Austria had unexpectedly changed its mind about Romania's Schengen membership after confirming on November 16 its commitment to expanding the borderless zone with three countries.

The Romanian leader also said that Austria's decision was "difficult to understand".

On the one hand, he argues that there are too many migrants and the Schengen expansion should be frozen until this is fixed, but on the other hand, he supports the expansion to Croatia, he commented.

Schengen admission

Klaus Johannis

Republic of Croatia