The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said that the official decision regarding Romania and Bulgaria’s full Schengen membership is coming, emphasising that both countries belong to the Schengen Area.
She welcomed the positive results of the informal discussions held today in Budapest regarding the Schengen membership of Romania and Bulgaria in terms of land borders, Schengen.News reports.
Following today’s meeting, Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter has said that Romania and Bulgaria are poised to join the Schengen Area as early as January 2025.
A final decision in this regard is expected on December 12 at the EU Council for Justice and Home Affairs meeting, in which a vote is also part of the agenda.
A Key Visit in Budapest
Earlier today, local media reported that Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Atanas Ilkov, will meet with his counterparts from Austria, Romania, and Hungary, the holder of the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Among the key issues of this meeting is finding new ways to abolish land border controls for Romania and Bulgaria.
On November 21, Bulgaria’s Caretaker Minister, Dimitar Glavchev, said that in today’s meeting, Bulgaria, Romania and Austria will sign a declaration related to the full Schengen membership for Romania and Bulgaria.
However, he emphasised that the declaration is not the final decision for Bulgaria’s Schengen Membership concerning land borders but a recognition of the work that the country has done.
Recently, the Interior Minister, Cătălin Predoiu, referring to today’s meeting, said that his country is optimistic regarding the progress of full Schengen membership after this meeting.
MEPs to Once Again Call for Full Schengen Accession for Romania & Bulgaria
Members of the European Parliament are set to once again call on European Union countries to support full membership of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Zone.
MEPs are expected to call on the Council to finalise the work on the full integration of the two Balkan countries into the Schengen Zone. Their request is expected to be addressed in a debate with the Commission on Tuesday, November 26, 2024.
Romania and Bulgaria entered the Schengen Zone by air and sea on March 31, 2024, but not by land borders.
In spite of meeting the technical requirements since 2011, Austria has opposed Schengen accession for these two countries due to irregular migration concerns. In the case of Bulgaria, the membership was also opposed by the Netherlands.
However, both countries have now changed their stance on the matter. With the support of Austria, Romania and Bulgaria became partial members of the Schengen Zone.
But, in spite of some recent reports noting that Austria has paved the way, allowing full Schengen accession for these two countries, a recent report from Novinite says that Austria didn’t confirm that the veto would be lifted soon.
The report says that Austrian Minister of Interior Gerhard Karner emphasised the country’s ongoing efforts to enhance border protection over the past year, but he didn’t confirm reports indicating that the veto would be lifted soon.
Karner said that these efforts are paying off, and “we want to continue on this path”, referring to the strengthened protection of Romania and Bulgaria’s borders.
Source: https://schengen.news/the-official-decision-for-romania-bulgarias-full-schengen-accession-is-coming-von-der-leyen-says/
