Romania, Bulgaria join borderless Schengen zone

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA —

Romania and Bulgaria became full members of the Schengen zone on Wednesday, expanding the borderless area to 29 members and ending a 13-year wait for the two Eastern European countries.

The expansion, which became possible when Austria and other members dropped their objections to the former communist countries joining, was officially held at midnight on Wednesday, marked by ceremonies at various border crossings.

Romania and Bulgaria, both members of the European Union since 2007, were partially included in the Schengen zone in March, abolishing border checks at ports and airports.

But Austria has threatened to veto their full entry due to migration concerns, meaning controls remain in place at land border crossings.

Vienna dropped its veto threat in December after the three countries agreed on a “border protection package”, paving the way for Romania and Bulgaria, two of the EU’s poorest countries, to join Schengen.

It overlaps with the EU, but is not identical

Created in 1985, the zone will now include 25 of the 27 EU member states, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, covering a total population of more than 400 million people.

Romania and Bulgaria meet the technical requirements of the Schengen zone for membership since 2011.

But “member states have objected every time” they tried to join, analyst Valentin Naumescu told Agence France-Presse.

It became “a source of frustration exploited by anti-EU parties, who claimed that Romania was being treated unfairly,” he said.

Resentment came to the fore in Romania’s recent presidential election, in which far-right candidate Calin Georgescu surprisingly won the first round, before the election was canceled amid allegations of Russian interference.

Now “that feeling that they are second-class citizens” should disappear, Naumescu said.

The peoples agreed

Leaders of both parties hailed the expansion as “historic”.

Austria has complained for years about receiving a disproportionate number of undocumented migrants as a result of poorly protected external Schengen borders.

She dropped her objections to the entry of Romania (population 19 million) and Bulgaria (6.5 million) into Schengen after the three countries signed an agreement on border protection in November.

The agreement envisages joint deployment of guards on the Bulgarian-Turkish border and temporary controls at land crossings for an initial period of six months.

Joining the zone will increase the gross domestic product of Romania and Bulgaria by at least one percentage point, analysts estimate.

Truck drivers are celebrating the change

Truck drivers who currently wait up to 8 p.m. at border crossings celebrated this news.

“It was a complete waste of time for the drivers, who couldn’t even stop to rest because they had to move their vehicles every 10 minutes,” said Beniamin Lucescu, head of the Romanian Transport Federation.

Poor road and rail infrastructure in Bulgaria could limit the positive effect there.

Meanwhile, the tourism sectors of the countries expect an increase in visitors from the two countries to nearby Greece.

“It’s excellent news,” said 46-year-old sales manager Ivailo Kirkov, who owns a house in northern Greece. “We’ve been waiting impatiently.”

Greek teacher and tour guide Gueorgui Grantcharov predicted an influx of Romanian and Bulgarian tourists to Greece.

Without waiting at the border, “it takes just over four hours to get from Sofia to Thessaloniki,” he said.