Romania had recently revealed everything, but the official confirmation remained. It came on the night of Saturday 30 to Sunday 31 December 2023, when the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) announced that Bulgaria and Romania would partially integrate the Schengen area of freedom of movement from March 31.
This date was chosen because it corresponds to the transition planned by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) from the winter schedules to those planned for the summer, says the press release from the twenty-seven who unanimously agreed to increase the controls at the airport to abolish maritime borders of these two countries within the EU. They must take a new decision to determine the timing of lifting controls at land borders within the EU, adds this press release from the Council of the EU, an institution that represents member states.
For its part, the European Commission welcomed this decision, which came after no less than twelve years of negotiations. “Today is a historic moment for Bulgaria and Romania and a day of great pride for Bulgarian and Romanian citizens,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a press release. The Commission recalled that since 2011 it had considered that these two countries were ready to join the Schengen area.
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Austria lifted its veto on guarantees
Bulgaria and Romania, members of the EU since 2007, were excluded by Austria from the Schengen area at the end of 2022, where more than 400 million people can travel freely without internal border controls. Vienna had vetoed it to protest against too many illegal immigrants on its territory, then agreed to override it in exchange for guarantees.
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Sofia and Bucharest agreed to take stronger action against illegal immigration in a joint declaration signed with Austria on Saturday. Bulgaria and Romania also commit to fully applying European law, which requires asylum applications to be processed in the migrant's country of arrival.
The Schengen area, created in 1985, includes 23 of the 27 EU member states as well as its neighbors Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
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