Bulgaria and Romania will join Schengen: border controls will be canceled
12 December 14:27
The Council of the European Union has decided to abolish controls at the land borders with Bulgaria and Romania. They will join the Schengen area on January 1, 2025. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi with reference to the press service of the EU Council.
Sandor Pinter, the head of the Hungarian Interior Ministry, which currently holds the EU presidency, called the decision a “historic moment.”
“It is a historic moment to finally welcome Bulgaria and Romania as full members of the Schengen Agreement. The abolition of checks on persons at the internal land borders with and between these Member States has been a top priority of the Hungarian Presidency, and today we have made it happen. This step will benefit not only the citizens of Bulgaria and Romania, but also the EU as a whole,” he said.
It is noted that since joining the EU, Bulgaria and Romania have been applying parts of the Schengen legal framework (Schengen acquis), including those related to external border control, police cooperation and the use of the Schengen information system.
As you know, in 2023, the EU reached a consensus on the “partial” accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen. It provided for the removal of checks at airports and seaports. The decision came into force on March 30, 2024.
At the same time, Romania and Bulgaria had already fulfilled all the technical criteria for joining the Schengen area in 2010, but they faced resistance from Austria and the Netherlands. They cited allegedly insufficient measures to curb illegal migration.
on December 30, 2023, the Council decided to apply the remaining parts of the Schengen legislation from March 31, 2024, and to abolish checks of persons at internal air and sea borders.
Schengen is the largest free movement area in the world. Checks at the border between France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were first abolished in 1985. Today, the Schengen area covers 29 countries (25 of the 27 member states, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) and 420 million people. Controls on the internal borders with Cyprus have not yet been lifted, and Ireland is not part of the Schengen area.
