Romania and Bulgaria will gain full access to the European Union’s passport-free area next year, a historic decision that will help boost their struggling economies.
“The EU Council has approved the abolition of controls at the land borders of Romania and Bulgaria from January 1, 2025,” Brussels said on Thursday. The decision came 18 years after these countries joined the EU. However, it must be confirmed at next week’s EU summit to fully honour the formalities.
The interior minister of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU, Sándor Pinter, said that “this is a historic moment” for Bulgaria and Romania. the minister noted:
“The abolition of checks on persons at internal land borders with and between these member states was a top priority of the Hungarian Presidency and today we have made it a reality.”
According to him, Sofia and Bucharest have adopted all the necessary amendments to their laws in order to fully enter Schengen from January 1.
Passport controls had already been cancelled earlier this year for air and water transport, but checks were still ongoing at land borders.
The Schengen area covers 29 countries (25 of the 27 member states, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and 420 million people. Controls at internal borders with Cyprus have not yet been cancelled, and Ireland is not part of the Schengen area.
