IRIA News

After a thirteen-year wait, Romania and Bulgaria finally joined Europe’s Schengen area of free movement on March 31, 2024, allowing their citizens to travel freely by air and sea without border checks, bringing them in line with the rest of Europe.

To join Schengen Bulgaria and Romania required unanimous approval from all existing member states. Initially, Austria and the Netherlands voiced their concerns about admitting the two countries into Schengen. Eventually, it was settled that the two states would get partial status into the Schengen zone.

“This is a great success for both countries,” President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter following the decision. She added that this is a “Historic moment for the Schengen area, the largest area of free movement in the world. Together, we are building a stronger, more united Europe for all our citizens.”

Today, Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen family.

I welcome the lifting of internal air and sea border checks.

This is a great success for the people of both countries.

It also benefits millions of EU citizens across Europe.

Making the Schengen area even stronger.

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 31, 2024

After becoming partial members, both Romanian and Bulgarian business communities called for urgent measures to get full Schengen integration as most of the goods are transported by road.

Established in 1985, the Schengen area enables over 400 million individuals within the European Union to move unrestrictedly without internal border checks. With their partial membership status, the Schengen zone now encompasses 29 participants, including 25 of the 27 EU member states, along with Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.

Migration management

Late last year, the two nations struck a deal to become a partial member of the Schengen travel zone that allows travelers to cross into other member states via air and sea travel. Austria vetoed the two nations’ complete membership into the Schengen travel area that included the land crossings.

Austria argued that a heavy influx of asylum seekers from the Western Balkan route demonstrates that Schengen is unable to cope with migration management. Although Romania is not part of that route, there is a large number of refugees and asylum seekers in Romania that would enter Western Europe if Schengen management continues to show the same mismanagement. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that his country has catered to more than 75,000 unregistered migrants this year.

Both nations have entered into a regional police initiative alongside Austria, Greece, and Slovakia to combat the influx of irregular migration. Additionally, the EU’s border agency, Frontex, announced last month that it intends to triple the number of its officers stationed in Bulgaria to assist in reducing the number of individuals crossing into the bloc from Turkey.

Negotiations on removing border checkpoints

Romania and Bulgaria are the only European Union member countries that do not have full Schengen benefits. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said his country’s Schengen membership is a “well-deserved achievement” and highlighted that Romania anticipates concluding negotiations concerning land borders within this year.

“We have a clear and firmly assumed government plan for full accession to the Schengen Area by the end of the year,” Marcel Ciolacu added.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov also termed the move as a “big victory” for his country. Denkov said, “After 2007 and Bulgaria’s accession to the EU, this is the biggest success of Bulgarian diplomacy, Bulgarian institutions, and Bulgarian politicians.” He added, “Bulgaria is at a historic moment, joining the Schengen Area, and this is not just a political cliché.”

Denkov said that his country is waiting for a “suitable political moment” to determine when land border checks will be dropped. “Maybe after the elections in Austria [in the autumn] or for the European Parliament [June 9],” Denkov added.

While speaking to reporters, Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov said that his country aims to attain full membership in the Schengen zone by the year’s end. This would entail the removal of border checkpoints for individuals and goods traveling via road and rail.