Romania and Bulgaria are just one step away from becoming part of the Schengen Area!
When a country joins the Schengen Area, borders with other Schengen countries are removed, allowing citizens and tourists to travel freely from one Schengen country to another without passport checks.
With open borders, economic activities tend to grow due to more efficient distribution of goods and services, while tourism receives a major boost from the ease of travel between countries.
Currently, the Schengen Area consists of 27 countries, and more details can be found below.
Countries in the Schengen Area
It’s important to note that most of the 27 Schengen countries are members of the European Union. However, there are four Schengen countries that are not EU members, but these countries have special agreements allowing them to participate in Schengen policies.
The 23 EU countries in the Schengen Area include Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
The four non-EU countries in the Schengen Area are Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.
In the future, Bulgaria and Romania are scheduled to officially join the Schengen Area in early 2025, bringing the total number of Schengen member countries to 29.
Romania and Bulgaria's Long Journey to Join the Schengen Area
After years of effort, Romania and Bulgaria are finally set to become part of the Schengen Area in 2025.
Both countries have been members of the European Union since 2007 and met the Schengen Area requirements as early as 2010. However, Romania and Bulgaria’s bid to join the Schengen Area faced strong opposition from Austria in 2022.
Austria’s opposition was based on concerns about the border control systems of Romania and Bulgaria, following reports of more than 100,000 illegal migrants crossing their borders, with around 75,000 of them being unregistered.
This situation highlighted the failure of border control systems, and Austria felt the need to delay the expansion of Schengen until these issues were resolved.
Official Schengen Membership in 2025
Almost two years later, Romania and Bulgaria received a breakthrough in March 2024, when passport checks for air and sea borders between these two countries and other EU countries were halted.
This move marked the initial step for Romania and Bulgaria toward full membership in the Schengen Area.
In December 2024, Austria finally agreed to support Romania and Bulgaria’s full membership in the Schengen Area, paving the way for the removal of land border controls starting January 1, 2025.
With Romania and Bulgaria joining the Schengen Area, it is expected that tourism and trade flows will increase, leading to economic growth, and an influx of foreign investment.
