2023-08-21 05:09:10
tzworld
The short trip by a German couple had serious consequences: a criminal complaint was filed in Romania. It’s not an isolated case.
Bucharest – The two countries in Eastern Europe, Hungary and Romania are members of the European Union (EU). Two tourists from Germany explain why they didn’t know that they were committing a crime on their vacation.
Her offense wasn’t so drastic like the vacation scandal of a tourist in Italy. But it immediately raised an alarm with the authorities in Hungary and Romania, like the news portal Digi24.ro reported. But the vacationers didn’t even notice that at first. The German tourists wanted to take their bikes on a tour of the neighboring Romanian region, namely from Garbolcz in Hungary to Bercu (Satu Mare) in Romania, which is only regarding 4 kilometers away. They had their GPS calculate the route there, which guided them to their destination away from all major roads and border crossings.
German couple reported following a bike tour: the border with Romania poses a holiday risk. (Icon image) © Roland Hartig/IMAGO/Icon image
Holidays with consequences: bike tours can become “fraudulently crossing the national border”.
The temporary border crossing point on the side road they were driving along was closed at the time of their bike ride. Unsuspecting anything bad, the cyclists bypassed the vacant barrier and thus entered Romanian soil – illegally – a representative of the border police reported Digi24.ro. Shortly therefollowing, the Hungarian authorities sounded the alarm and transmitted video footage of the two cyclists to the Romanian side. After she identified the two, they were charged with fraudulently crossing the state line.
The tourists caught told the Hungarian authorities that they were unaware of their crime. Because they are used to being able to travel freely through Europe without customs controls. This case is actually not an isolated case, reports Digi24.ro further. In fact, it is common for EU tourists to unintentionally break the law by bicycle, motorbike or even on foot.
Holidays in Europe: Border controls are also possible in EU countries
The reason: In most cases, EU citizens are no longer confronted with border controls within Europe due to the Schengen Agreement. However, it is important to know that not all EU countries are actually Schengen countries and vice versa. Schengen countries include:
AustriaBelgiumCroatiaDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandItalyLatviaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaNetherlandsNorwayPolandPortugalSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandThose: Foreign Office
It is therefore all EU countries, with the exception of Ireland, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus. In the last three states, the Schengen Agreement has so far only been partially applied. Personal checks are therefore still taking place there at the internal borders for the time being. In addition to the EU member countries, the Schengen states also include Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Criminal complaint following vacation in Romania: Not an isolated case, but still punishable
The public prosecutor of the Hungarian Satu Mare issued a “waiver” in this case. There are ten such temporary border crossings on the Romanian border with Hungary, which are only open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Romanian time). It can be assumed that this circumstance is partly to blame for the unintentional illegal border crossings.
Several such incidents were registered in the area of responsibility of the Satu Mare district – but in all cases the people had legal travel documents. But those who have not previously informed themselves regarding the regulations on site and only rely on the data from a GPS run the risk of accidentally making themselves liable to prosecution, said the spokeswoman for the Satu Mare border police, police chief inspector Oana Pîrcălab Digi24.ro. Meanwhile, vacationers in France are threatened with a high fine – if they ignore a new traffic sign. (that)
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