Romania and Bulgaria are granted full Schengen membership, with one caveat

euronews (in English)

Romania and Bulgaria will become full-time members of the Schengen Area as of 1 January 2025, completing a process that dates back to 2011, when the European Commission declared both countries ready to join.

Transcript

00:00Romania and Bulgaria finally received the green light on Thursday to become full members

00:11of the passport-free Schengen area.

00:14This breakthrough was made possible after Austria agreed to lift its long-held veto

00:18on the accession of the two Eastern European countries, which was initially due to concerns

00:23about migration.

00:25In practice, the deal means the abolition of checks at internal land borders, although

00:30some checks will still remain.

00:32Although practically they will be fully members by the start of 2025, there will be some internal

00:42border controls placed by Hungary at the Romanian border and then also in the border between

00:50Bulgaria and Romania for at least six months.

00:54The Schengen area is experiencing a delicate period, with at least eight countries reintroducing

01:00temporary internal border checks one after the other, among them Germany and more recently

01:07the Netherlands, both citing a risk of irregular migration or cross-border crime.

01:12All countries have notified the EU Commission, but an analyst suggests the issue is more

01:18political than security related.

01:21So it seems that more and more countries are actually using border controls.

01:27I don't know whether or how real the risk is and how effectively these border controls

01:35can actually respond to the reasons that are stated in the notifications, but I guess they

01:45are also serve as this tool to kind of say to the domestic public that we are doing something.

01:54Internal border controls may not be that invasive actually, they may be only like random checks

02:00at the border.

02:02The Schengen agreement was founded on the principles of strengthening external borders,

02:07allowing member states to trust one another.

02:10However, this trust has been challenged by some member states regarding migration issues.

02:16There is hope among some that implementing the Asylum and Migration Pact could rejuvenate

02:21the Schengen visa-free area.

Category

Transcript

Recommended