​After 13 years of waiting, Bulgaria and Romania on Sunday partially joined Europe’s Schengen free movement zone, which will lift controls at both countries’ air and sea borders, but not yet at land borders, he told AFP. For now, road controls will be maintained due to a veto imposed by Austria, the only country in the EU to oppose the two countries joining the zone due to fears of a significant influx of asylum seekers. Y aunque la adhesion sea partial, al estar limitada aeropuertos y puertos marítimos, it is a passo con alta carga simbólica.

Through the Schengen area, created in 1985, more than 400 million people can transit freely without internal border controls. “This is a great success for the two countries,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a communiqué. “This is a historic moment for the Schengen area, the main area of ​​free movement in the world. Together we will build a stronger and united Europe for all our citizens,” he said.

It’s a “matter of dignity,” noted Stefan Popescu, an international relations expert in Bucharest. “Any Romanian, al tener que hacer una fila diferente a la del resto de nacionales europeos, sentia que le estaban dando un trato diferente,” he told AFP. “This will facilitate our integration into the EU,” the analyst commented, hinting at an “important milestone,” albeit delayed. For his part, Bulgarian Ivan Petrov, a marketing manager for 35 years and living in France, also mentioned a “big step forward” that would mean “saving time” and “less stressful” trips.

At the airport in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, where the majority of flights are destined for Schengen countries, employees have been working all week to prepare for this change. The government has pledged to increase the effectiveness of random checks targeting minors “to prevent the press from human trafficking”. The deployed agents will also be responsible for “informing passengers and identifying those pretending to leave Romania illegally.”

A set of measures aimed, in addition, at convincing Vienna that it already has some restraint and can become a member of 100% of the Schengen area. Croatia, which joined the EU after Romania and Bulgaria, which have been members of the bloc since 2007, has been part of the Schengen area since January 2023. After the accession of Romania, a country with 19 million inhabitants, and Bulgaria, 6.5 million; Schengen will include 29 members: 25 of the 27 EU countries, as well as neighboring Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Sin embargo, por carretera, las cosas seguirán igual. According to one of Romania’s main road transport unions, truck drivers have to wait 18 to 16 hours at the border with Hungary and “20 to 30 hours” to enter Bulgaria, although they are sometimes given “picos de hasta”. tres días” en ambos puntos de paso. “We’ve been waiting for 13 years, we’re on the edge,” reacted the general secretary of the trade union, Radu Dinescu, lamenting the colossal “financial losses” for the sector.

Entre las patronales búlgaras, las denuncias eran similares. “Only 3% of Bulgarian goods are delivered by air and sea transport, the remaining 97% travel by land transport,” said Vasyl Velev, president of BICA (Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association), in an interview with AFP. “So we’re at 3% in Schengen and we don’t know when we’ll be allowed to join fully,” he lamented. En cualquier caso, tanto Bulgaria como Rumania advirtieron: ya no hay vuelta atrás. “Obviously, this process is irreversible,” Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predou stressed in March, calling for Schengen incorporation to be completed by the end of the year.