Partial Schengen accession

Entry to Bulgaria and Romania relaxed

The border between Bulgaria and Greece (archive photo)

(Bild: AFP)

Bulgaria and Romania partially joined the European Schengen area on Sunday. Since midnight (local time, 11 p.m. CET), entry controls at airports and in shipping have been lifted. Travelers from the two countries no longer have to fly to other EU countries via international terminals.

At land borders, however, the authorities will continue to check identity documents. This affects car and truck drivers who travel to Romania or Bulgaria via Hungary or Greece, for example. As reported, the EU states agreed on the partial accession of the two countries to the Schengen area at the end of December.

Veto by Austria
Austria's government is particularly opposed to the complete abolition of land border controls. It justifies this with the high number of irregular entries via the Balkan route. At the beginning of March, Chancellor Nehammer (ÖVP) said at a meeting with Romania's President Johannis in Bucharest that there was still "no concrete timetable" for full admission to the Schengen area.

29 countries member
"The decision on the extension to land borders will be political", said Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu on Sunday. "Full implementation (of Schengen, note)" could not be postponed for much longer, he said. Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov spoke of a "great success". According to him, full accession could come after the EU elections or the national elections in Austria.

The Schengen area is intended to guarantee the unrestricted movement of people in Europe. 25 of the 27 EU member states are part of it, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Romania and Bulgaria had been waiting to join since 2011.