Bulgaria and Romania from 1 January 2025 fully entered the Schengen zone, recalls TASS.
It is specified that visa control at land borders with the countries is now removed, in March 2024 it was cancelled at air and sea transport.
As the agency recalls, Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, wanted to join the Schengen zone back in 2011, but Austria and the Netherlands blocked consideration of their applications because of fears that they would not be able to implement effective control at the external border and fight illegal migration.
In November 2022, the European Commission recommended that the EU Council approve a decision on their accession to Schengen, but their applications were again rejected by Austria and the Netherlands.
There are now 29 countries in the Schengen area, with another four – Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City and San Marino – joining Schengen with other states because of their geographical features (they are completely surrounded by the territories of other countries and have no sea or air ports of their own).
https://lenta.ru/news/2025/01/01/bolgariya-i-rumyniya-voshli-v-shengenskuyu-zonu
