Bulgaria and Romania's entry into the Schengen area by sea and air approved starting March 31

Significant progress has been made in the goal of Bulgaria and Romania to join the Schengen area, which they have been awaiting for years since becoming members of the European Union (EU) at the beginning of 2007. It has been reported that the two countries will be included in Schengen via sea and air routes starting from March 31, 2024.

In a statement from the EU Council, it was noted that member states reached a unanimous decision to lift border controls for entries from Bulgaria and Romania via sea and air routes starting March 31, but that a new decision is required to lift controls for land border entries.

Bulgaria and Romania had most recently faced obstacles from the Netherlands, Hungary, and Austria regarding their accession to Schengen.

Hungary had warned Bulgaria, which wanted to increase the transit fee applied to Russian natural gas reaching its country via the TurkStream pipeline, to take a step back, announcing that otherwise, it would block its entry into the Schengen area. Following this, the Sofia administration abandoned its plan to introduce additional transit fees on Russian gas.

The Netherlands, which had long resisted the two countries' accession to Schengen citing reasons such as migration and corruption, also withdrew its objection in mid-December, stating that the conditions it requested had been met.

Finally, focusing on negotiations with Austria, Bulgaria and Romania announced on December 28 that an agreement had been reached for accession via sea and air, and that negotiations would continue for land accession.

Within the Schengen area, which covers 23 EU members excluding Bulgaria, Romania, Ireland, and the Greek Cypriot administration, as well as Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, there are no border controls except for exceptions.