This January 1, 2025 will mark an important change for Bulgarians and Romanians. Their countries will officially enter the Schengen area. They will be able to travel without any restrictions within this zone which now brings together 25 of the 27 countries of the European Union – only Ireland and Cyprus are not part of it. An integration that Bulgaria and Romania have been waiting for for many years.
3 mins
It has been 18 years since Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, but they are waiting to join the Schengen area. This is a major change that is about to take place for these two countries on January 1, 2025, for which endless queues of vehicles could stretch for several kilometers in certain places on their borders, causing the fury of heavy goods vehicle drivers. Images which should become a simple memory since the two nations officially join the Schengen area.
After 13 years in the antechamber of this space where people and goods can move and cross borders without restriction, a long wait is coming to an end for the two former communist countries, among the poorest in the EU. Already one foot in the zone with the lifting of controls in March 2024 in airports and seaports, in mid-December they received the approval of their European partners to benefit from the same privileges at land border posts. Ceremonies are planned at different crossing points shortly before the changeover scheduled for midnight (10 p.m. UT).
A “feeling of being second-class citizens” that is fading
Since 2011, “ each time, Member States raised objections », recalls analyst Valentin Naumescu. This problem has become over the years “ a source of frustration exploited by anti-EU parties denouncing unfair treatment of Romania », he adds. With the accession to Schengen, “ this feeling of being second-class citizens » is fading, estimates the expert.
Initially, it was delays in justice and the fight against corruption that slowed down the integration of the two countries. Then it was the fear of an influx of illegal immigration which delayed their entry, particularly that of Austria, the last country to have lifted its veto. Romania and Bulgaria have promised an additional effort to control this illegal immigration to finally be accepted in this area of free movement, unique in the world in terms of its size and the number of countries belonging to it. Paradoxically, they are achieving this at a time when the functioning of the Schengen area is being undermined. Because, again in the name of the fight against illegal immigration, land controls are increasing: nine countries have partially reestablished them, including France and Germany.
Created in 1985, the Schengen area now includes 25 of the 27 EU member countries as well as their associated neighbors Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. More than 400 million people can in principle travel there without being subject to checks.
Also readSchengen Area: European Union agreement for full membership of Romania and Bulgaria