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

Bulgaria remains among the EU countries with the lowest debt

On October 21, the Ministry of Finance assumed domestic debt and sold government securities for 145 million euros with 3-year maturity. In 2025, the state assumed domestic debt of 1.45 billion euros. Debt of 7.2 billion euros was..

published on 10/22/25 9:19 AM

In the border regions of Kyustendil foreigners already want to pay in euros

Foreigners often want to pay in euros. The reason is that the goods already have a price in the European currency, the commercial establishments in Kyustendil say. Sellers have some difficulties explaining that this cannot be done..

published on 10/22/25 8:50 AM

Ancient villa beneath Sofia set for a new chapter

Today, architecture students from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Sofia are presenting new proposals for integrating the remains of the Roman Villa Rustica into the city's modern urban environment. Their aim,..

published on 10/22/25 8:30 AM