Bulgaria and Romania have become &full* members of Europe*s Schengen Area after passport checks at land borders were lifted on 1 January, 2025.
The move completes the two countries* entry into Schengen arrangements with 27 other members after controls at air and sea borders were removed on 31 March, 2024.
The EU directorate-general for migration and home affairs in a statement said welcoming the two EU member states into the Schengen Area, which encourages free movement, will ※boost travel, trade and tourism and contribute to strengthening the internal market§.?
※Schengen is about much more than borderless travel,§ the statement continued. ※Schengen states work closely on security and migration through a common visa policy, joint police operations, and real-time information exchanges between law enforcement agencies as well as harmonised procedures to return those with no legal right to stay in the Schengen Area.§
The Schengen Area now includes all European Union member states 每 excluding Ireland 每 as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.