After 13 years of waiting, here they are finally in the Schengen area. Romania and Bulgaria officially entered this vast free movement zone at midnight local time (22:00 GMT), with the notable exception of land borders. On the roads, checks will be maintained for the time being, to the great dismay of truck drivers. Blame the veto of Austria, the only refractory country in the EU for fear of an influx of asylum seekers.
Despite this partial membership, therefore limited to airports and seaports, the stage has a strong symbolic value.
“This is a great success for both countries
,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
“This is a historic moment for the Schengen area, the largest area of free movement in the world. Together, we are building a stronger and more united Europe for all our citizens
,” she said.
Romanian Justice Minister Alina Gorghiu is convinced that this normalization will attract investors and benefit the country's prosperity.
“Romania's attractiveness is strengthened and in the long term, this will encourage an increase in tourism
,” she said on Saturday during a conference.
Finally joining is
“a question of dignity
,” notes Stefan Popescu, an international relations expert based in Bucharest.
“Every Romanian, when he took a separate line from other European nationals, felt treated differently
,” he told AFP. Bulgarian Ivan Petrov, 35, a marketing executive living in France, also welcomes
“a big step forward”
,
“a saving of time” and
“less stressful”
travel
in perspective.
29 members now
At the Romanian capital's airport, where the majority of flights serve the Schengen area, teams have been busy all week preparing for this little revolution. With the promise of increased numbers to carry out unannounced checks, particularly on minors
“in order to prevent them from falling prey to human trafficking networks”
, according to the government.
The deployed agents will also be there to
“guide passengers and identify those who would take advantage of this to leave Romania illegally”
. Because we have to show our credentials to hope to overcome Vienna's reluctance.
And become full members of the Schengen area, within which more than 400 million people can travel freely, without permanent controls at internal borders.
Croatia, which entered the EU after Romania (19 million inhabitants) and Bulgaria (6.5 million), members since 2007, beat them to the punch in January 2023.
With this double entry, this zone created in 1985 will now include 29 members: 25 of the 27 states of the European Union as well as their associated neighbors which are Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.
“At 3% in Schengen”
Excluded from the process, road carriers are not taking off. The wait lasts
“from 8 to 16 hours”
at the border with Hungary,
“from 20 to 30 hours with Bulgaria, with peaks of three days”
in both cases, lamented in a press release one of the main Romanian unions in the sector, deploring colossal
“financial losses”
.
“We have waited 13 years, we are at the end
,” reacts Secretary General Radu Dinescu.
Same rant from the Bulgarian bosses.
“Only 3% of Bulgarian goods are transported by air and sea, the remaining 97% moving by land
,” says Vassil Velev, president of the BICA (Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association) organization, interviewed by AFP.
“We are therefore at 3% in Schengen and do not know when we will be authorized to join completely
,” he laments.
While he hopes for progress by the end of the year, the entrepreneur fears he will pay the price for the legislative elections scheduled for the end of September in Austria, while conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer must face the rise in the polls of the extreme right. In any case, both Sofia and Bucharest have warned: there will be no going back.
“It is clear that this process is irreversible
,” Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu declared in early March, calling for it to be completed in 2024.