Full Schengen membership means a lift on land border checks.
The Associated Press (see full article here) reported on Friday that Bulgaria and Romania could become full members of Europe’s Schengen travel zone starting at the beginning of 2025.
The two countries joined the European Union in 2007; however, they were not integrated into the borderless Schengen zone until March of this year, with border control lifted for air and sea, but not for land. Due to strong opposition (primarily from Austria with irregular migration concerns), land border checks remained in place.
But, according to AP, “following a meeting of the Austrian, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Romanian interior ministers in Budapest on Friday, Austria lifted its opposition, paving the way for a final decision by a summit of EU interior ministers in December.”
This monumental meeting brings Romania and Bulgaria one step closer to becoming full Schengen members and the hope is that the final decision will take place in December of this year.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, wrote on X that “Bulgaria and Romania belong fully to the Schengen area.”
“I welcome the positive outcome of informal discussions in Budapest today … Let 2025 see Schengen become stronger,” she wrote.
