Bulgaria and Romania will partially join the Schengen area from March 31

New barriers are rising in eastern Europe. Bulgaria and Romania will partially integrate the Schengen area of ​​free movement into the European Union, the 27 announced on the night of Saturday December 30 to Sunday December 31. The 27 EU member states have unanimously agreed to lift controls at the air and sea borders, internal to the EU, of these two countries from March 31, according to a press release from the Council of the EU, the institution which represents the member states.

The date of March 31 was chosen because it corresponds to the transition from winter schedules to those planned for summer by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), according to this text. The 27 will have to take a new decision to choose the date for lifting controls at the land borders, internal to the EU, of the two countries, added the press release.

“A historic moment”

The European Commission, for its part, welcomed this decision, which comes after no less than 12 years of negotiations. “Today marks a historic moment for Bulgaria and Romania, and a day of great pride for Bulgarian and Romanian citizens”, welcomed the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in a press release. Created in 1985, the Schengen area includes 23 of the 27 EU member countries as well as their associated neighbors Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

The Commission recalled that it had considered since 2011 that these two countries were ready to join the Schengen area. Vienna had vetoed it last year to protest against too many illegal immigrants arriving on its territory, before agreeing to lift it in exchange for guarantees. Sofia and Bucharest agreed to fight more against illegal immigration in a joint declaration signed on Saturday with Vienna. The two countries also undertake to fully apply European law, which provides that asylum requests be processed in the migrant’s country of arrival.