Romania and Bulgaria officially joined the Schengen free-travel area of the European Union on Wednesday, eliminating land border controls and allowing unrestricted travel within the bloc.
Celebrations marked this expansion with fireworks at a crossing near the Bulgarian town of Ruse right after midnight. Here, the interior ministers of Bulgaria and Romania symbolically lifted a barrier on the Friendship Bridge over the Danube River, a key point for international trade often plagued by bottlenecks.
Furthermore, while checks for air and sea travel from these countries ceased in March 2024, land controls persisted until Austria recently withdrew its veto. Austria had insisted on stronger measures to curb irregular migration before agreeing to the expansion.
Read: Romania and Bulgaria Schengen in January 2025
The Schengen area was established in 1985, when border checks were abolished between France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Today, the area encompasses 25 of the 27 EU member states, including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, but excludes Ireland and Cyprus.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev hailed the event as historic, noting, “From Greece in the south to Finland in the north, and to Portugal in the west – you can now travel without borders.”
