Bulgaria and Romania are now part of the Schengen area, with an exception

As of today/Sunday, the EU member states Bulgaria and Romania are members of the Schengen cooperation. Border controls are accordingly abolished, although only for air and sea transport. Border checks for travellers over land should be abolished soon.

Schengen is a small village in a small EU member state, Luxembourg. The name is mostly known for the rules concerning the free movement of people without internal border controls. Travellers aren’t stopped at the borders when travelling between now 29 countries: 25 of the 27 EU member states (Ireland and Cyprus are the exceptions) and Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Iceland.

Bulgaria and Romania have wanted to join the Schengen area for years, but distrust by other EU member states has prevented this. Even now, the distrust remains, mostly out of fear of an influx of illegal migrants. That’s why the rules only apply to travelling via air or sea. Over land, border controls remain in place. However, it’s also expected that those inspections will soon be dropped.

According to the EU-Commission ‘a regional initiative on police cooperation was established between Member States along the Western Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean routes, including Bulgaria, Romania, Austria, Greece, Hungary and Slovakia …Bulgaria and Romania have continuously demonstrated a high level of commitment in ensuring an adequate protection of the EU external borders and have constantly acted as key contributors to the internal security of the Schengen area.’

^{© Daniel MIHAILESCU Photo AFP}