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Due to Austria’s concerns about illegal immigration, Schengen rules do not yet apply to land borders.
After 13 years of waiting, Bulgaria and Romania have partially joined Europe’s Schengen Area of Freedom of Movement.
Romania and Bulgaria joined the continent’s free air and sea travel zone late last year after Austria opposed full membership, including land crossings, citing the need to take further steps to prevent illegal immigration. An agreement was reached.
Despite partial membership, lifting restrictions on the two countries’ air and sea borders on Sunday has both practical and symbolic value.
“Of course, this is a very great achievement for Bulgaria and it makes things easier for us as Bulgarians,” said Mincio Yurkov, who arrived at Sofia airport from Berlin on Sunday.
“Also, we feel like Europeans. That’s very important. The flight is much more comfortable without checks.”
Created in 1985, the Schengen Area allows more than 400 million people in the European Union to travel freely without internal border checks.
Currently, the Schengen Area has 29 partial member states: 25 of the 27 EU member states, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
“We welcome the lifting of internal air and sea border checks. This is a great success for both countries,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
“Together we are building a stronger and more united Europe for all our peoples,” she said.
call for extension
While some travelers have reason to celebrate, truck drivers are feeling left out as they face long lines at borders with Europe’s neighbors.
UNTRR, one of Romania’s main road transport unions, regretted the huge financial costs caused by long waiting times and called for “urgent measures” towards full integration into the Schengen Agreement.
“Romanian carriers lose billions of euros every year due to long waiting times at the border alone,” UNTRR Director General Radu Dinescu said.
The union said truck drivers typically wait between eight and 16 hours at the Hungarian border and 20 to 30 hours at the Bulgarian border, with peak times of three days.
Bulgarian companies have also voiced their anger at the slow pace of progress.
“Only 3% of Bulgarian products are transported by air and sea, while the remaining 97% are transported by land,” said Vasil Verev, chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA).
“We currently have 3% of Schengen members, and we don’t know when we will reach the remaining 97%,” he told AFP news agency.
Bucharest and Sofia said there was no going back.
“There is no doubt that this process is irreversible,” Romania’s Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu said this month, “and it must be completed by 2024, including the extension to land borders.” he added.
Migration management
One of the main reasons why Schengen rules do not apply to Bulgaria and Romania’s land borders is Austria’s concerns about how Sofia and Bucharest will manage irregular migration through these borders. That’s true.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Karin Stoyanov told reporters on Sunday that the country should become a full member of the Schengen area by the end of this year. This also means border checks will be removed for people and goods traveling by road and rail.
The Romanian Prime Minister also said that negotiations on land borders are expected to conclude by the end of the year.
The two countries have joined Austria, Greece and Slovakia in a regional policing initiative to combat the flow of illegal migrants, and EU border agency Frontex last month also increased the number of Bulgarian police officers to stem the flow of migrants. It was announced that the number would be tripled. Entering the block from Türkiye.
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