Travelers from the EU's Schengen zone can now enter Romania and Bulgaria without border checks for the first time. The reverse route will also be free of border controls from last Easter Sunday. This applies to travelers by plane and boat. Those who come or go by land still have to show a passport.

Romania and Bulgaria have joined the so-called Schengen area on March 31, to which the vast majority of Europe already belongs. Border controls between these countries have been lifted. Accession had been a fervent wish of the two Balkan countries for years, but a number of other Schengen countries felt that they were not yet ready for it. Opponents feared that the border between Bulgaria and Turkey, which would become the European and therefore also their external border, would be far from watertight.

Austria has not yet been reassured about this, which means that controls at the Romanian and Bulgarian national borders are not yet a thing of the past. The intention is to try to deal with this during the course of the year.

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* Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)