Bulgaria and Romania will partially integrate the Schengen area of free movement into the European Union, from March 31, 2024, announced the Twenty-Seven on the night of Saturday December 30 to Sunday December 31.
The 27 member states of the European Union have unanimously agreed to lift controls at the air and sea borders, internal to the EU, of these two countries as of March 31, according to a press release. This date was chosen because it corresponds to the transition from winter schedules to those planned for summer by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), according to this text.
The Twenty-Seven will have to take a new decision to choose the date for lifting controls at the land borders, internal to the EU, of Romania and Bulgaria, added this press release from the Council of the EU, an institution which represents the Member States. The European Commission, for its part, welcomed this decision, which comes after no less than 12 years of negotiations.
Better fight against illegal immigration
“Today marks a historic moment for Bulgaria and Romania, and a day of great pride for Bulgarian and Romanian citizens,” welcomed, again in a press release, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. The Commission recalled that it had considered since 2011 that these two countries were ready to join the Schengen area.
Vienna had vetoed it last year to protest against too many illegal immigrants arriving on its territory, before agreeing to lift it in exchange for guarantees. Sofia and Bucharest agreed to fight more against illegal immigration in a joint declaration signed on Saturday with Vienna.
Bulgaria and Romania are also committed to fully applying European law, which provides that asylum requests be processed in the migrant’s country of arrival. The two countries, members of the EU since 2007, were rejected by Austria at the end of 2022 from the Schengen area within which more than 400 million people can travel freely without internal border controls. Created in 1985, it includes 23 of the 27 EU member countries as well as their associated neighbors Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.