Romania and Bulgaria have reached agreement with Austria for their partial integration into the Schengen area in March 2024, according to the Romanian government.
“After 13 years, Romania will finally join Schengen! We have a political agreement on this matter!” Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu wrote on Facebook.
The Romanian Ministry of the Interior announced that a “political agreement” had been reached between the three countries to expand the area to Romanian and Bulgarian “air and maritime borders” starting in March 2024.
The issue of the land border has been deferred to discussions set to take place next year.
Austria, which vetoed both countries’ entry a year ago, suggested in early December what it termed “Air Schengen.” Vienna was open to a relaxation of the rules governing air traffic for Bulgaria and Romania, provided Brussels strengthened the EU’s external borders.
Romania and Bulgaria, EU members since 2007, had been rejected in late 2022 from this vast area, where over 400 million people can travel freely without internal border controls.
Their applications faced a veto by Austria, which has been complaining for years of bearing the burden of a disproportionate amount of illegal immigration due to the inadequate protection of the Schengen area's external borders, in the face of indifference in Brussels.
The Schengen area, established in 1985, includes 23 of the 27 EU Member States, plus affiliated neighbours Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
