Border controls between the two countries, as well as Romania-Hungary and Bulgaria-Greece will end on January 1, 2025.
On December 12, at a meeting of EU interior ministers, news that had been circulating for a week or two became official: Bulgaria and Romania have finally become full members of the Schengen passport-free travel area.
“It is a historic moment to finally welcome Bulgaria and Romania as full Schengen members,” said Hungary’s interior minister, Sándor Pintér, who chaired the meeting. Hungary currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
“Lifting checks on persons at the internal land borders with and between those member states has been a top priority for the Hungarian presidency, and today we have made it a reality. This step will benefit not only Bulgarian and Romanian citizens, but also the EU as a whole.”
Land border controls between the two countries, as well as Romania-Hungary and Bulgaria-Greece will now disappear on January 1, 2025. It will therefore be possible to drive from Athens to Lisbon without ever needing to show a passport or ID card.
(Note that ‘random’ controls will continue at Romania’s borders for a period of six months).
Both Bulgaria and Romania long ago met the criteria required to join Schengen, but first the Netherlands, and then Austria, vetoed membership for years.
Austria softened its stance earlier this year, allowing the two countries to partially join Schengen—with air and sea borders. Passport checks remained at land borders.
It was a shabby compromise which did not solve the problem of thousands of trucks carrying goods and produce being held up at the various borders—something that cost the economy of each country an estimated two per cent of GDP per year.
Hauliers should now see costs fall considerably as lorries will no longer be forced to spend hours, sometimes days, waiting to cross. According to the Romanian Union of Road Transporters (UNTRR) lorry drivers often have to wait more than 72 hours to cross the border between Bulgaria and Romania.
Not only is full Schengen membership great for travellers therefore (especially Bulgarians and Romanians travelling to Greece), but it should boost the economies of both countries. And both economies could certainly do with a boost.
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