Romania & Bulgaria to Join Schengen; Land Checks for 6 Months

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Austria has raised its objections to the full admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, with the decision to be formalized by the end of this year within the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council.

However, controls at the land borders between Hungary and Romania and between Romania and Bulgaria will be maintained for an initial period of at least six months, according to a joint declaration signed by Austria, Romania, Bulgaria and the Hungarian presidency of the EU Council, published by the latter on Saturday.

Romania and Bulgaria joined the Schengen area with air and sea borders in April, but Austria vetoed the full admission of the two countries to the European area of ​​free movement, accusing them of not sufficiently combating illegal migration.

The Council Decision of 30 December 2023, by which Romania and Bulgaria were admitted to the Schengen area with air and sea borders, was then accompanied by a joint declaration signed on 29 December 2023 by Austria, Romania and Bulgaria on the continuation of efforts to combat illegal migration, with a view to welcoming the two countries to the European area of ​​free movement also with land borders.

An assessment was made of the full application of the Schengen acquis by Romania and Bulgaria at the JHA Council meeting on 10 October 2024. All parties confirmed the progress made in implementing the joint declaration agreed in December 2023 and acknowledged a decrease in irregular movements and the number of asylum applications as a result of the application of the jointly agreed measures, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU reports.

The assistance of the European agency FRONTEX at the external borders of Bulgaria and Romania has been constantly expanded, European financial support has been increased and progress has been made in making investments for the technical reinforcement of the borders (patrol ships, field patrol vehicles, drones, motion detectors, thermal imaging cameras, etc.), the Schengen regional cooperation initiative has been launched to improve information exchange and cross-border cooperation, document verification advisors have been deployed at the airports in Bucharest and Sofia, and cooperation aimed at applying the European Dublin Regulation has been significantly improved, according to the document published by the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU.

Therefore, comparing the first three quarters of 2023 and 2024, illegal entries in Bulgaria decreased by 47%, in Romania by 53% and in Austria by 67%. In the same period, asylum applications submitted by migrants in Bulgaria decreased by 40%, in Romania by 75% and in Austria by 57.3%.

In these circumstances, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, Romania, Bulgaria and Austria jointly acknowledged on 22 November 2024 the progress made in reducing illegal migration to Europe and to these Member States. The three countries agreed on a set of measures to continue these efforts, while Austria raised its objections to the full admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area. The three countries thus agreed to continue joint efforts to combat illegal migration to Europe in general and to these countries in particular, to continue these efforts in accordance with the joint declaration signed by Austria, Romania and Bulgaria on 29 December 2023, to take all measures to prevent secondary movements of migrants through these countries and to carry out returns and transfers consistently in accordance with the relevant agreements.

Temporary exceptions

However, in order to mitigate the potential change in migratory patterns that could occur as an immediate consequence of the lifting of land border controls and to prevent any serious threat to public order or internal security, even after the full admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, controls at the land borders between Hungary and Romania and between Romania and Bulgaria will be maintained for an initial period of at least six months, by applying Art. 25a (4) and (5) of the Schengen Borders Code. Also, in the spirit of solidarity, Bulgaria will continue to be supported in protecting the EU’s external land border with Turkey, by deploying a multinational police contingent of 100 border guards, 40 from Romania, 25 from Bulgaria, 20 from Hungary and 15 from Austria.

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