The European Union has approved Bulgaria and Romania to join the Schengen Area as full members starting next year, according to officials. Hungarian Minister of the Interior, Sandor Pinter, who is overseeing the EU’s rotating presidency, described the decision as a “historic moment” during a meeting of ministers on Thursday.
This development follows a 13-year-long path to membership for the two EU and NATO members. Their entry was secured after Austria lifted its veto, which had been in place due to concerns over undocumented immigration.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis called the accession a “natural and necessary step,” noting that it would reduce border waiting times, lower logistical costs for businesses, and enhance the country’s appeal to foreign investors. He emphasized that, despite Romania meeting Schengen standards for many years, the country had faced numerous obstacles in the process.
Earlier this year, Bulgaria and Romania were granted partial Schengen membership, with air and maritime border checks lifted between them and the other 27 member states. However, land border controls remained. Austria’s decision to remove its objections followed an agreement between the two countries to implement a “border protection package” in Budapest. This agreement includes the joint deployment of border guards to the Bulgarian-Turkish border and temporary land border controls for an initial six months.
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner highlighted that the country’s demands to address undocumented immigration had led to a significant drop in migrant interceptions near Austria’s border with Hungary. He pointed to a reduction from 70,000 interceptions in the year leading up to October 2023 to just 4,000 in the same period this year.
Founded in 1985, the Schengen Area now includes 29 members—25 of the 27 EU states, plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. It is the world’s largest area without internal border controls, allowing over 400 million people to travel freely.
As Bulgaria and Romania prepare to join the Schengen Zone, a report from the European Council on Foreign Relations revealed that 54% of Brexit voters in the UK now regret their decision and would accept the return of full free movement in exchange for access to the EU single market. The report suggests that the time is ripe for a reassessment of EU-UK relations.
