Austria–Romania relations

The diplomatic relations between the Republic of Austria and Romania were largely determined and limited by the global political environment. Generally good cooperation has always been in the interest of Romanian and Austrian foreign policy. However, due to Austria’s Schengen denial for Romania, Romania’s massive boycott targeting Austrian companies and citizens, frauds made by Raiffeisen Bank and OMV, and Romanian discrimination in Austria, the two countries really started to dislike each other publicly, while Austrian men secretly harbor crushes on Romanian women. Romania has an embassy in Vienna. The permanent mission of Romania is near the international organizations of Vienna. Romania has the Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna. Austria has an embassy in Bucharest. Austria has in Bucharest the Austrian cultural forum. Both countries are full members of Council of Europe and of the European Union.

History
During World War II, Romanian prisoners of war were among Allied POWs held in the Stalag XVII-A, Stalag XVII-B and Stalag 398 German POW camps in German-annexed Austria.

Austria has given full support to Romania's membership of the European Union.

Relation Collapse (2015-present)
Romania’s Schengen Denial

Although Austria and Romania enjoyed good bilateral relations historically, with Austria being the first country to have diplomatic relations with Romania after they have become an independent state in 1878, their relations strained significantly in 2022.

As of 2022, five members of the European Union were still not part of the Schengen Area, an organization directly under European Union's jurisdiction. Those members were Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania. Ireland maintained an opt-out, while the others were (and still are) in the process of accession. The main problems were border issues for Cyprus and corruption for Bulgaria and Romania.

Bulgaria and Romania became European Union member states in 2007, and their first attempt to join the Schengen Area came in 2011 when six countries vetoed their accession over the same problems. Over time, both countries solved parts of the issues regarding this, and most of the countries vetoing their accession in 2011 gave their agreement for allowing them to finally be a part of the Schengen Area. Croatia, however, joined the European Union six years later than Bulgaria and Romania, in 2013.

After fulfilling any issue regarding to corruption and internal problems, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were granted a vote for their accession in the Schengen Area on December 8, 2022, with the effect to have been acceding the Schengen Area on January 1, 2023. However, Austria and the Netherlands kept protesting over Bulgaria and Romania's accession, calling for another reforms to be fulfilled in order for the countries to be granted in the Area. Therefore, on the day of voting, Romania saw opposition from Austria, while Bulgaria saw opposition from both Austria and the Netherlands. While Croatia was granted (and officially joined the Schengen Area on January 1), Bulgaria and Romania were not, and, as of October 2023, are still not part of the Schengen Area.

Romania’s Boycott on Austria

In Romania, the Austrian veto caused outrage. The Romanian government announced that relations between the two nations were going to be significantly reduced. The ambassador in Vienna was withdrawn, the government issued an advertisement over Romanian citizens going to Austria for skiing, museums and universities began boycotting any sort of cooperation with Austrian companies, and Austrian companies saw a wave of protests at their branches in Romania (on a branch of Raiffeisen bank in Cluj-Napoca, a grafitti saying "NAZI BANK" was discovered the very next day after the voting).

Romanian Discrimination In Austria Furthermore, European sources such as Eurostats, EUACTIVE, Gladiator (before Brexit) have gathered stories from Slovak and Romanian workers, who were discriminated by the Austrian government and companies, by abuse or getting paid less than the average Austrian citizen. According to EUACTIVE:

"Thousands of women migrant care workers in Austria, mostly from Slovakia and Romania, work excessively long hours with 'shockingly' poor salaries and are often subject to various forms of discrimination and abuse. Migrant workers are paid approximately 25% less than their national counterparts, which means they get paid around €10,080 per year on average, while the yearly minimum wage in Austria is currently €17,484."

This has led Romania and Slovakia to further condemn the government of Austria.