Romania wants EU summit on the rise of far right

(BUCHAREST) - Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu called Wednesday for an extraordinary EU summit to answer the rising influence of far-right and anti-European parties in Europe.

"I think the time has come to discuss frankly how Europe can react to the electoral rise of far-right parties", Ungureanu told foreign journalists, including AFP, on the eve of a visit to Brussels.

Ungureanu, who was appointed prime minister at the beginning of February, is to meet with the European Union president Herman van Rompuy and the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso on Thursday.

"I think we should have an extraordinary EU summit to openly discuss what is happening and how we can react to support pro-European policies," he added saying Europe "needs to become conscious of the far-right danger".

Europe should develop policies "in order to avoid such cases that erode European ideas and hold hostage integration policies," he insisted

Eastern European countries have protested against a highly controversial website set up last month by the Dutch far-right Freedom Party that asks Dutch citizens to report complaints against east European migrants.

Ungureanu also said he believed the opposition of the Netherlands to Romania's and Bulgaria's entry into the Schengen passport-free zone was due to the fact that the Dutch government is depending on the support of Geert Wilders' far-right party.

Any move to expand the 25-nation Schengen area, home to 400 million Europeans who can cross borders without a passport, needs a unanimous vote but the Netherlands has staunchly opposed including Bulgaria and Romania.

Although the two countries have met all technical criterias required, the Dutch government asked for more progress in the fight against corruption.

Ungureanu said the two subjects should not be linked.