Money is the key that determined the position of France and Germany towards Romania on the Schengen matter, a former minister in the Nastase government, Ionel Blanculescu declared in an interview for RFI. He said that in the EU the strong nations are the ones who pull the strings. He said the main causes behind the recent opposition of the French and German Interior ministers towards Romania to join Schengen are several public tenders that rejected the offers of French and German giant construction companies. The French from de la Vinci were rejected twice in Romania and a German company was rejected from Cernavoda, in favor of an apartment company, Blanculescu accuses. According to him, the German company made an official complaint to the state authorities who concluded that the German company was right.

This treatment, on the international scene is a gesture of defiance of a world leader, Blanculescu said and added that this is not without consequences. The former official wonders how Romania wants to persuade the Germans and the French to endorse it to join Schengen when all these companies are treated bad in Romania.

In his opinion, Romania is more ready to join Schengen than others were and that economic reasons rest behind the position of the two European nations.

Money is the key that determined the position of France and Germany towards Romania on the Schengen matter, a former minister in the Nastase government, Ionel Blanculescu declared in an interview for RFI. He said that in the EU the strong nations are the ones who pull the strings. He said the main causes behind the recent opposition of the French and German Interior ministers towards Romania to join Schengen are several public tenders that rejected the offers of French and German giant construction companies. The French from de la Vinci were rejected twice in