photo EC
photo EC

Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen area | 29 members join the Schengen area

TOURISM

Bulgaria and Romania have partially joined the extended European Schengen free movement area, opening up air and sea travel without border controls after 13 years of waiting. However, Austria’s veto means the new regime will not apply to land routes after Vienna expressed concerns about a possible influx of asylum seekers.

With the arrival of Bulgaria and Romania, the Schengen area will include 29 members – 25 of the 27 EU Member States, plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

But Austria’s veto limits this regime exclusively to air and sea routes. This means that tourists travelling by air to these countries will not need a separate visa and will be able to use Schengen visas. Those travelling by road, however, will need additional documents.

The Romanian government plans to implement the Schengen rules at four seaports and 17 airports, with the country’s Otopeni airport near the capital Bucharest acting as the largest hub for Schengen flights.

More staff, including border police and immigration officers, will be deployed at airports to “support passengers and identify those who want to take advantage to leave Romania illegally”, the Romanian government said.

Random checks will also be carried out to catch people with forged documents and to combat human trafficking.

Both Bulgaria and Romania hope to fully join Schengen by the end of the year, but Austria has so far only backed down on air and sea routes.

Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu confirms the need to complete the process by 2024, extending it to the land border.

As Bulgaria and Romania take this important step forward, the march towards a more united Europe continues, albeit with obstacles still to be overcome.

As a reminder, Croatia preceded the two aforementioned countries, becoming the 27th Schengen member in January 2023.

In a statement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the accession of the two countries to the Schengen area, saying: “Bulgaria and Romania are joining the Schengen family. I welcome the lifting of internal air and sea border controls. This is a great success for both countries. And a historic moment for the Schengen area – the largest free movement area in the world. Together we are building a stronger, more united Europe for all our citizens.”

As the European Commission said in a statement, since last December, both Member States have taken all necessary measures to ensure the smooth implementation of the Schengen rules from 31 March 2024.

“The Cooperation Frameworks launched in early March by the Commission together with Bulgaria and Romania build on the successful implementation of the pilot project on fast-track asylum and return procedures. With these Cooperation Frameworks, Romania and Bulgaria will further contribute to strengthening cooperation on borders and migration, as well as to joint European efforts to address EU external border security and migration challenges,” the Communication said.

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