Netherlands denies that it urged the Commission to activate the safeguard clause against Romania and Bulgaria

Dutch Foreign Affairs minister, Frans Timmermans denied on Thursday that it summoned the European Commission to activate the safeguard clause against Romania and Bulgaria, Novinite informs. He declared that he underlined the need for the continuation of the monitoring and cooperation mechanism.

Timmermans explained that he would like to see how Romania and Bulgaria could be further supported to resolve their issues. Timmermans’ declarations come as a reaction against the Romanian news agency NewsIn that quoted an open letter sent by the Dutch minister to the Commission in which, the agency read, he explicitly urged the Commission to consider applying the safeguard clause if the justice report on the two countries due this summer does not register enough progress.