After years of waiting, Bulgaria and Romania have finally managed to fully enter the Schengen club. The EU Home Affairs Council has decided to eliminate land border controls for the two Eastern European countries starting from January 1, 2025, after those at sea borders and airports were eliminated in March.
“It is a historic moment to finally welcome Bulgaria and Romania as full members of Schengen”, and the abolition of controls on people at land borders “will benefit not only Bulgarian and Romanian citizens, but also the entire EU “, exulted Sándor Pintér, Minister of the Interior of Hungary, the country holding the rotating presidency of the Union and which therefore managed the negotiations.
The stalemate has been overcome
Until now, Austria had been blocking membership, with Vienna fearing influxes of irregular migrants entering Europe via the two nations located on the bloc’s eastern borders. But Sofia and Bucharest increased controls at their external borders, thus reassuring their European partners, and finally received the long-awaited green light. For the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Sofia and Bucharest are now finally and fully in the area “where they belong”.
Internal border controls return to Europe: what has changed
For Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, full entry into Schengen is “deserved”. “Congratulations to the people of both countries who have worked long and hard to achieve this. A stronger Schengen area means a safer and more united Europe,” wrote the popular Maltese on X.
It’s done. It’s decided. It’s deserved.
Romania & Bulgaria will fully join Schengen on 1 January 2025.
Congratulations to the people of both countries who have worked hard and long for this.
A stronger Schengen means a safer & more united Europe.#StrongerTogether 🇪🇺🇷🇴🇧🇬 pic.twitter.com/lcgMFCWK69
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) December 12, 2024
What changes
The two Eastern European countries joined the European Union in 2007, but only at the beginning of this year were they allowed to join, albeit partially, the Schengen agreement, as regards air borders and maritime. In practice he had been given permission to travel on planes and ships without having to first go through document checks by border guards, which for example we Italians also do when we travel to London and the United Kingdom or other third countries. However, for Romania and Bulgaria, road checks remained in force for those traveling by car, with checks by the police on people in transit. From January 1st those controls will also be eliminated.
The Schengen area
Schengen is the largest free movement area in the world. It was created when border controls between France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were first abolished in 1985. Today the area includes 29 countries (25 of the 27 Member States, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and 420 million people. Internal border controls with Cyprus have not yet been abolished and Ireland is not part of Schengen.
