Bulgaria, Romania become full members of Schengen area

“It is a historic moment to finally welcome Bulgaria and Romania”, Hungary's Interior Minister Sandor Pinter, whose state is currently at the helm of the European bloc's presidency, has said.

Bulgaria and Romania, both EU member states since 2007, have been partially integrated into the free movement zone since March, as air and sea traffic alone has been enabled, without border controls.

Austria had refused full admission of these countries to Schengen, citing concerns about migration.

However, Vienna has said Monday it will not use veto at the ministers' meeting held Thursday morning, and thus the two countries will be full-fledged members of January 1st of 2025.

Bucharest and Sofia have met all technical criteria that have been imposed by Brussels in 2010, but have waited more than a decade to become part of Schengen, as some countries have been opposed over the years.

Austria has abandoned the veto, only after the three states signed the “pacon for border protection”.

The agreement envisions joint engagement of border guards at the Bulgarian-Turkish border, and temporary border controls on land routes for six months.

Founded in 1985, the Schengen area consists of 29 states of 25 of the 27 countries in the European bloc, plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

This is the largest area in the world without internal border controls.

Over 400 million people can travel freely inside. /rel/