Romania and Bulgaria have become full members of the European Union’s Schengen free-travel area, eliminating land border restrictions and joining a growing group of nations whose citizens are exempt from passport requirements.
As the Bulgarian and Romanian interior ministers symbolically lifted a barrier on the Friendship Bridge over the Danube River, fireworks lit up the sky at a crossing near the Bulgarian border town of Ruse shortly after midnight.
The crossing is a significant international commercial transit point.
In March 2024, restrictions on air and sea travel from Bulgaria and Romania were removed; nevertheless, land inspections persisted until Austria vetoed the proposal last month, stating that more was required to curb irregular migration.
In 1985, border controls were first removed between France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Today, 25 of the 27 EU members as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland are included in the Schengen region.
Cyprus and Ireland do not belong to the Schengen area.
