Schengen accession with the land borders, a hot topic again

European officials support the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen this year.

Daniela Budu, 08.10.2024, 14:00

The European Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson, supports the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area with the land borders, by the end of the year. The official announced that this is be the message to be conveyed at the Justice and Home Affairs Council due on Thursday in Luxembourg. Ylva Johansson has said that Bulgaria and Romania have done everything possible, they have implemented all the additional measures and her message to the ministers at Justice and Home Affairs Council will be to take the last step and lift checks at the two countries’ land borders. The statement was made during a European Parliament discussion about the reintroduction of border checks by some countries in the Schengen area and the effects of these decisions on the free movement area.

Ylva Johansson said she was proud to live in the Schengen area. It is the largest circulation area in the world – 450 million people from 29 countries can move freely through Europe, she said. Almost 30% of Europe’s population lives in a border area and 50 million people live directly next to an internal border, she explained. Thank you for putting such an important debate on the agenda, the commissioner told the MEPs.

As regards Romania’s Schengen accession with land borders, the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union has also announced recently, in a statement that it will present, at the JAI meeting, the situation of the full implementation of the Schengen acquis in Romania and Bulgaria. We remind you that at the end of last year, the Council decided to eliminate checks at the air and sea borders with Romania and Bulgaria, but in order to set the date for the elimination of the land borders, another Council decision is needed.

In Bucharest, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said that there is direct communication with the authorities in Austria, which have opposed Romania’s accession, and added that in the upcoming period there will be good news for the country as regards Schengen. Meanwhile, several European officials have renewed their message of support. Europe needs Romania and Romania enjoys our support as regards Shengen and its legitimate interest in lifting checks at the land borders as quickly as possible, the German ambassador in Bucharest, Peer Gebauer, has said recently.