Romania and Bulgaria are partially joining the Schengen area of free movement in Europe from March 2024. The European Council announced this on Saturday.
Romania and Bulgaria have been members of the European Union (EU) since 2007. However, the two countries have not been able to join the visa-free Schengen zone for so long.
More than 400 million people can move freely in the Schengen area without internal border controls.
Austria initially vetoed the application of Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen area.
Finally, in late 2022, Romania and Bulgaria's applications to join the Schengen area were rejected.
Austria has said for years that Schengen's external border security is weak. Because of this, Austria has to give asylum to an unusual number of illegal immigrants.
The Schengen Area was established in 1985. Currently, the number of countries included in the Schengen zone is 27. It includes 23 of the 27 EU members.
Four countries that are not members of the EU (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) belong to the Schengen area.
In a statement of the European Council yesterday, it was said that the 27-member EU has unanimously agreed to lift the air and sea border control of these two countries (Romania and Bulgaria) on March 31.
And the talks on opening the land borders of the two countries in the Schengen area will continue next year.
After nearly 12 years of negotiations, it was finally decided to partially include Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen area.
The European Commission has welcomed the partial inclusion of the two countries in the Schengen area. The enlarged Schengen area will strengthen the EU internally and as a union on the world stage, the Commission said in a statement.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it a "historic moment".
In a post on social media, the President of the European Commission said, "Today is a proud day for Bulgaria and Romania." Both countries deserve it. They will make Shenzhen stronger.
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