EU justice and interior ministers are due on December 12 to announce a date for Romania and Bulgaria's fully joining Europe's Schengen free-travel area nearly 18 years after the two southeast European countries became members of the bloc.
The move comes after Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner earlier this week announced that Vienna was finally dropping its opposition to the two countries' joining the 29-member zone, which encompasses more than 450 million people and covers 4,6 million square kilometers.
Romania and Bulgaria were partially admitted into Schengen on March 31, when air and sea border controls were dropped, but Vienna continued its veto on the two countries' being allowed to scrap land-border checks over fears that more illegal migrants could reach Austria.
Karner said on December 9 that Vienna was dropping its opposition since migrant arrivals via Bulgaria and Romania to Austria had dropped significantly.
Romania and Bulgaria's fully joining Schengen comes after Croatia became the most recent member in January 2023.
Border controls are expected to be scrapped from January 1, but random checks are still to be performed until July 1, according to a decision made by EU ambassadors on November 27, which has to be confirmed by the justice and interior ministers on December 12.
Despite Bucharest and Sofia's meeting the technical criteria for membership since 2010, their admission into Schengen was opposed constantly by Austria and the Netherlands, but the latter eventually dropped its veto, leaving only Austria in opposition.
Both Romania and Bulgaria constantly argued that the decision to keep them on the outside was purely political.
Eliminating border controls is expected to further boost the two countries' economies further as trucks won't have to wait for days in kilometers-long lines at the border, which substantially increased the cost of transported goods.
The measure has also long been anticipated by the diasporas of both countries, whose members have been spending long hours at the border during the summer and winter holiday seasons.
Currently, 23 of the 27 EU countries are full Schengen members, with Romania and Bulgaria only partially admitted. Two EU countries -- Cyprus and Ireland are not members.
Non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland have also joined the free-travel agreement, which was initially signed in June 1985 in the small Luxembourg village of Schengen by five countries -- Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
In recent years, several countries, including Germany, reintroduced random border checks with neighboring EU countries intended to fight illegal migration and people smuggling.
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