The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, yesterday welcomed Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area, pointing out on his social network account X that “freedom of movement is a pillar of the Europe of citizens.”
The minister reposted the note disseminated on the same social network by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which highlighted that, as of this Monday, April 1, “the elimination of controls on the air and sea borders with Romania and Bulgaria agreed under the Spanish Presidency of the European Council extends freedom of movement between 29 European countries of 450 million people.”
For her part, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, congratulated both countries in her X account for the “great success” that this union by sea and air represents, although entry by land is not yet possible. due to the veto of Austria, fearful of a substantial increase in asylum seekers who may arrive by road.
In December 2022, the last time an agreement was attempted with the Twenty-seven on this matter, the veto of Austria and the Netherlands frustrated the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen area, something that the European Commission had been demanding for a decade because it defended that met all the criteria for accession.
Then Croatia, the last partner to join the community club, was allowed to enter, so Romania and Bulgaria were the only EU countries that are not part, in some way, of the borderless space.
The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, described the entry as “Historical day for Romania and the Romanians”, while the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Nikolai Denkov, will participate today in an event at Sofia airport to mark the date.
