Romania’s Ambassador to Austria Returns to his Position

Romania's Ambassador to Austria, Emil Hurezeanu, returns to his position. The gesture aims to signal “openness” to Austria so that the most “dynamic dialogue possible can be conducted on all available channels”, the Romanian Presidential Office announced this afternoon. Hurezeanu was ordered to Bucharest for consultations after Vienna vetoed Romania's Schengen membership, according to ORF.

According to the Romanian President's Office, as reported by Die Presse, the decision was made after President Klaus Johannis and Federal President Alexander van der Bellen shared their opinions on Thursday about the veto against the EU member state's admission to the border-free Schengen area. As a result of the phone call, Romania's head of state decided to send Ambassador Hurezeanu back to Vienna to promote dialogue and find constructive solutions together, according to a press release from the President's Office.

According to Die Presse, Federal President Alexander van der Bellen tweeted that he had spoken to Johannis about "hopefully being able to welcome Romania as a full Schengen member shortly" and that we would continue to work on it. "I am also very pleased that President Johannis has announced that the Romanian ambassador will return to Austria," van der Bellen said in his tweet.

According to ORF, Hurezeanu was recalled to his home country for consultations at the beginning of December, one day after Austria vetoed Romania and Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen - according to the Federal Foreign Office in Bucharest at the time, to clarify Romania's position towards Austria's position, which was "a decided disapproval".