More than a decade after joining the European Union, Romania and Bulgaria joined — at least partially — the rest of the bloc's members in the visa-free Schengen zone on Sunday.

Travelers are now able to move between the two Eastern European countries and the rest of the EU without the need for passing through visa and passport control when traveling by sea or air.

Due to a veto by Austria, however, land routes are not included due to fears that it would enable non-EU migrants to more easily enter other EU states.

"This is a great success for both countries," President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday.

"And a historic moment for the Schengen area — the largest area of free movement in the world. Together, we are building a stronger, more united Europe for all our citizens."

The Schengen area is comprised of the 25 other EU member states along with non-EU states Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Push for full Schengen inclusion
Romania has said that it will carry out random checks to guard against false travel documents and and to combat human trafficking.

The two countries hope to become full members of the Schengen area by the end of the year. They are the only two EU member states not to enjoy the full Schengen benefits. Even Croatia, which joined the bloc after Romania and Bulgaria, was accepted fully into the Schengen area in January last year.

Croatia adopts euro and borderless EU travel

Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu told Romanian news site News.ro on Sunday: "Our efforts to also join [Schengen] with land borders is continuing on multiple diplomatic channels.

Truck drivers have been pressuring their governments to secure visa-free travel across land borders with their European neighbors to beat the long queues that they currently face.

Romania's main road transport union UNTRR said the average wait at the Hungarian border was 16 hours.

"Romanian hauliers have lost billions of euros every year, just because of long waiting times at borders," secretary general Radu Dinescu said.

Bulgarian businesses have also expressed their dismay, with Vasil Velev of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) pointing out that "only 3% of Bulgarian goods are transporteed by air and sea, the remaining 97% by land."

Source: DW 

BDST: 1018 HRS, MAR 31, 2024
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