The expansion of the area of free movement is reportedly scheduled to be discussed at the EU meeting on Thursday.
21:09•Updated 22:13
Austria does not intend to block the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area with its veto, the country’s government said on Monday. Until now, Austria had opposed Bulgaria and Romania’s acceptance of free movement to the Schengen countries on the basis of immigration.
The expansion of the Schengen area is reportedly scheduled to be discussed at the meeting of EU interior ministers on Thursday.
Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007 and met the technical conditions required by the Schengen Agreement already in 2010. However, their joining the Schengen area has been delayed because at least one EU country has always opposed it. The expansion of the Schengen area requires the approval of all 27 EU countries.
Since the second year, the expansion of the Schengen area has been up to Austria alone, which has complained about the leakage of the external borders of the Schengen area. Last month, Austria, Bulgaria and Romania signed an agreement based on which, among other things, the countries will jointly send border guards to the border between Bulgaria and Turkey.
Earlier this year, it was agreed that air and sea travel border checks would be waived between them and other Schengen countries. Border checks could also be removed from land borders as early as next year, now that Austria is no longer in the crosshairs.
The Schengen area includes all EU countries with the exception of Bulgaria and Romania, as well as Cyprus and Ireland. In addition, the non-EU countries Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein belong to the Schengen area.
The story was edited on December 9, 2024 at 10:13 p.m.: Added information that Cyprus and Ireland are also not part of the Schengen area.