Romania and Bulgaria will join the border-free Schengen area

For Romania and Bulgaria, former Soviet Bloc countries that are now EU members, the light finally changed from red to green on Thursday as EU interior ministers agreed to let the two countries fully join the border-free Schengen zone on Jan. 1.

TheSchengen area is a zone within which all are free to travel across national borders without stops or inspections. Its members include most EU countries, except for Cyprus and Ireland, as well as non-EU states Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.

For the two incoming members, there will still be a few temporary restrictions on trucks crossing their borders, but these too will likely ease within months. The two countries had already been allowed internal air and sea borders without checks since March 2024, but this latest decision clears the way for free movement across internal land borders.

The decision is the result of a unanimous European Council vote of all member states, and it’s a big victory for Romanians and Bulgarians who favor deeper integration with Europe for either personal or commercial reasons.

For Romania, in particular, the timing carries particular symbolism. In recent days, the country’s constitutional courtinvalidated a national election following charges of election interference by Russia in favor of pro-Russian, anti-EU candidates.