Bulgaria, Romania join EU's visa-free Schengen area

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) - Bulgaria and Romania on Sunday were added to the EU visa-free travel zone, known as the Schengen area.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that Bulgaria and Romania had joined Schengen, with air and sea border border checks being lifted as of today.

"This is a great success for the people of both countries. It also benefits millions of EU citizens across Europe," Leyen wrote on X.

Ylva Johansson, the EU commissioner for home affairs, said the next step will be lifting controls at the countries’ land borders, which will be discussed among member states throughout the year.

In a statement, the European Commission also welcomed the move, stressing: "The Schengen accession of these two member states will make the common area more attractive by significantly expanding the world's largest common area without internal border controls."

Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007.

In 2011, the commission verified through Schengen Evaluation reports that both countries had fulfilled all criteria for complete integration into the Schengen area.

The commission actively endorsed and facilitated the new inclusion.

In the bloc, 25 of the 27 EU member states are now members of the Schengen area, along with four non-EU members (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland).

Greek Cyprus and Ireland are the only EU members outside of the Schengen area.