Government Romania and Bulgaria join the Schengen area as of January 1

Romania and Bulgaria will join the Schengen area in full from January 1, 2025. This means that land border controls with the other Schengen states will be lifted.

This was decided by the EU member states at the Home Affairs and Justice Council in Brussels on Thursday, as the Hungarian Council Presidency wrote on X. It is a great victory for Bulgaria, Romania and Europe as a whole.

Romania is well prepared to strengthen the Schengen area, said the Romanian Interior Minister, Marian-Catalin Predoiu, before the meeting. The Romanian people deserve it.

Federal Councillor Jans at the meeting in Brussels

Romania and Bulgaria have been members of "Air Schengen" since the end of March, which means that there are no controls at air or sea borders. Land border controls between Romania and Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary and Bulgaria and Greece will now be lifted.

The agreement enables the approximately 420 million people of the 25 EU states that are part of Schengen, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, to travel freely between the member states without border controls. As a member of Schengen, Switzerland can participate in the EU Council, but cannot vote. The Swiss Confederation is represented by Federal Councillor Beat Jans.