The EU approves the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into a Schengen area in crisis after more than a decade of blockade

On November 22, the Government of Vienna reached a trilateral agreement with Romania and Bulgaria to end their blockade. In return, Austria has demanded a reinforcement of the border between Bulgaria and Türkiyefor which a multilateral police contingent of 100 border guards will be deployed. In addition, controls will be introduced at the land borders between Hungary and Romania and Romania and Bulgaria for an initial period of at least six months.

With the entry of Romania and Bulgaria, the borderless Schengen area now covers 29 countries (25 of the 27 EU Member States, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and a population of 420 million people, making it the largest free circulation space in the world. Border controls with Cyprus have not yet been lifted, while Ireland has decided not to be part of the Schengen zone.

However, the arrival of these two countries occurs at a time when Schengen is in crisis. A total of 10 Member States (including Germany, France and Italy) have reintroduced internal border controls in an attempt to curb irregular immigration, despite multiple requests from Brussels to limit these controls to the minimum possible.

The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaskawhich has always been one of the main supporters of Romania and Bulgaria in the EU Council, has welcomed the agreement. “It was something that the European Union owed both Romania and Bulgaria,” he said. Under the Spanish presidency of the EU, the Twenty-seven already approved on December 30, 2023 to eliminate controls at the air and sea borders with the two countries, but not at the land borders.

The European Commission maintains that Romania and Bulgaria meet all the requirements to enter Schengen since 2011: effective border management, uniform Schengen visas, cooperation with the security forces of other countries and connection to all databases.

However, several countries did not trust Brussels’ favorable ruling. The most recalcitrant have been the Netherlands and Austria, which argued that admitting Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen would generate problems at border controls and would pose a threat to security. The Dutch withdrew their veto a year ago, and since then only the Vienna Government remained.