Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Romania and Bulgaria have a chance to join Schengen by land as of January 2025

Hungarian Minister of Interior Sandor Pinter
Photo: EPA/BGNES

Romania and Bulgaria have a chance to join the Schengen area by land as of January 2025, Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pinter said after an informal meeting in Budapest of the interior ministers of Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Austria
Hungary holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council and Austria is the country that has so far prevented Bulgaria's land accession to Schengen because of concerns about an increase in illegal migration.

"So far, things are going according to plan. This meeting was to take stock of the progress Bulgaria and Romania have made in the fight against illegal migration. Not to miss the efforts of Turkey, which is helping us a lot in this respect - to tackle illegal migration," Bulgarian caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev said.

At the meeting, the ministers decided to create an additional joint contingent of 100 people at the Bulgarian-Turkish border. In the words of Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov, even if the two countries are accepted from the beginning of 2025, the border control between Romania and Bulgaria will be temporarily maintained for six months, but it will not be as it is at the moment, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.

The final decision on Bulgaria's and Romania's full Schengen membership will be voted on 12 December in the Justice and Home Affairs Council. 

Since March this year, Romania and Bulgaria have been part of Schengen by sea and air, and now they are awaiting the opening of their land borders.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Bulgaria's Ministry of Tourism to create a map for hard-to-reach tourist sites

The Bulgarian Ministry of Tourism will work to create a map of important, but hard-to-reach tourist and cultural-historical sites. The goal is then to insist on financing the necessary repairs and improvements that will facilitate visitors' access to..

published on 2/17/25 10:46 AM

Sofia has a chance to be elected "European Capital of Democracy"

The cities of Sofia, Rotterdam and Cascais will compete for the title of "European Capital of Democracy" in 2026 . The selection will take place until March 12, 2025, by over 4,500 juries in 47 countries. Barcelona was the winner of the title in..

published on 2/17/25 9:55 AM
Vice President Iotova

Bulgaria not invited to Paris for the European forum on Ukraine

A surprising meeting, personally I think it should take place with all leaders within the EU and the UK. This was commented to BTA by Vice President Iliana Iotova on the occasion of the meeting of European leaders on Ukraine convened by French..

published on 2/17/25 9:05 AM