The EU approved the air and sea accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area

The Council of the EU has approved the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the "air and sea Schengen". Starting in March 2024, passport and visa controls will be abolished for citizens of these countries traveling by sea and air.

Source. This was reported by Bloomberg.

Control at land border crossings will remain in place, and the issue of its abolition will be considered later.

Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007, but were not included in the Schengen area (currently comprising 23 EU countries, as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein). Some EU members, in particular Austria, opposed Bulgaria and Romania's accession to the Schengen because of problems with corruption and organized crime in these countries, as well as the risk of an influx of migrants from these countries, Bloomberg notes.

In particular, due to Austria's position, the EU Council did not approve the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen last December, while it approved the accession of Croatia, which became part of the EU five years later than these two countries.

Vienna subsequently softened its position, but still opposes the abolition of controls on land borders, as it fears an influx of migrants.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis wrote on Twitter that the EU Council's decision to join the "air and sea Schengen" strengthens the country's position among EU member states. However, he emphasized that "the priority goal remains the full application of the Schengen Agreement and the elimination of controls at internal land borders." Bulgaria has the same goal.

Background. To recap, Ukraine and Moldova agreed to synchronize e-queues at the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.