Celebrations as New Year sees Bulgaria, Romania fully integrated into Schengen
Celebrations and ceremonies marked the January 1 2025 full integration of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen visa zone, as the countries’ land borders were included, following the admission of their air and sea ports at the end of March 2024.
The decision to fully integrate Bulgaria and Romania into Schengen was taken by EU leaders in December 2024, close to a year after the decision on the air and sea ports.
Travellers through the six border crossings between Bulgaria and Greece are no longer subject to routine checks, though there may be random checks on parts of the Struma Motorway close to the border.
Lanes at the Kulata – Promachonas border crossing entering and exiting Bulgaria have been repaired. The speed limit at that point has been set at 30km/h.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev was scheduled to visit the Kulata – Promachonas on the morning of January 1, accompanied by senior officials, to inspect the functioning of the crossing.
As midnight brought the New Year, Bulgarian caretaker Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov and his Romanian counterpart, Cătălin Predoiu, were scheduled to meet at the Danube Bridge crossing at Rousse-Giurgiu in a symbolic moment to mark the lifting of the barriers.
At the border crossings between Bulgaria and Romania, random checks will continue for six months, based on risk analysis, as a step against irregular migration.
The ending of stopping of vehicles for routine checks at the Bulgarian – Greek and Bulgarian – Romanian border crossings is not resulting in any dismissals of Border Police, customs or revenue officials, who are being redeployed to Bulgaria’s EU external borders or to mobile teams.
An explanation of the rules regarding travel within Schengen for holders of Bulgarian visas, long-term or permanent residence cards is available in English at the website of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Since the end of March 2024, visas issued by Bulgaria have been deemed to be Schengen visas.
Further information about the Schengen zone is available in a dedicated section of the European Parliament website.
(Illustration: The European Commission’s Audiovisual Service)
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