A blockade of Dutch flowers, bulbs and seeds on the Hungarian Romanian border is blackmail, Dutch Christian Democrat members of the European parliament said on Monday.

The import ban was set up this weekend. Romania claims it has identified a damaging bacteria on the flowers and bulbs. However, CDA parliamentarians say the timing is suspicious.
Last week, immigration minister Gerd Leers said the Netherlands would veto an expansion of the Schengen open border area to include Romania and Bulgaria because neither country had worked hard enough to tackle corruption.
An expansion of the Schengen area is due to be debated in Brussels on Thursday.

Explanation

The MEPs have asked internal markets commissioner Michel Barnier for an explanation.
A spokesman for the Dutch flower auctions told news agency ANP: ‘There is absolutely no question of any bacteria being present.’
ANP said Dutch bulb exports to Romania reached almost €700,000 last year.
According to the Volkskrant, Romania’s foreign minister Teodor Baconschi says the Dutch position on Schengen shows that the government is being ‘taken hostage by the extreme right’.