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full screen For air and boat traffic, Romania and Bulgaria were already admitted to the Schengen zone on March 31 this year. Now it also applies to land traffic. Photo: Andreea Alexandru/AP/TT
Romania and Bulgaria are now full members of the Schengen zone, after 13 years of waiting.
The entry became official at midnight on New Year’s Eve and was celebrated with ceremonies at various border crossings.
The two countries have met the technical requirements for membership since 2011, but were stopped from joining due to opposition mainly from the Netherlands and Austria, which considered the countries’ external border controls inadequate.