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

Every third Bulgarian is ready to defend democracy, every fifth the homeland: survey

Democracy is consistently perceived by a solid majority in Bulgarian society as the best form of governance. Approximately 1.5 million citizens declare their willingness to risk their personal security to protect it, according to a representative study..

published on 11/6/25 11:53 AM

Bulgaria's second-largest trade union "Podkrepa" opposes draft Budget 2026

The Confederation of Labor "Podkrepa" does not support the government's proposed state budget for 2026 , the union announced.  As reasons, the second most important trade union in the country points out "the lack of policies and reforms to address..

published on 11/6/25 10:35 AM

Mysterious Russian ship sails near Black Sea coast

The phantom ship VIVA 962 has changed at least 10 names and many owners before it surprisingly appeared near Cape Emine on November 1. The crew consists of a captain and a mechanic with Ukrainian passports from Kharkov, reports the "24 Chasa" portal...

published on 11/6/25 10:12 AM