Romania and Bulgaria fully joined the Schengen Area on Wednesday, allowing their citizens to <a target=_blank href=

Romania and Bulgaria scrapped land border controls to become full members of the European Union's Schengen free-travel area on Wednesday, joining an expanded bloc of countries whose residents can travel without passport checks.

This expansion means that travellers can now move freely between Bulgaria, Romania, and the other 27 EU member states

Residents from Romania and Bulgaria can now travel freely in the Schengen area. The combined 25 million residents of Bulgaria and Romania now join nearly 450 million EU citizens who already have the freedom to move around the Schengen zone, after land border checks were officially lifted.

Ceremonies were held just before midnight Tuesday to mark Bulgaria's and Romania's full membership in Europe's Schengen area, the culmination of years of negotiations by the Eastern European countries to join the ID check-free travel zone.

Lifting of controls at land borders will remove bottlenecks that often kept trucks loaded with goods stuck at border

Romania and Bulgaria have become full members of the Schengen zone, expanding the borderless area to 29 members and ending a 13-year wait for the two eastern European countries.

After 13 years of negotiations and procedures, Romania and Bulgaria officially joined the Schengen area on January 1, Azernews </strong

Law enforcement officers conduct random inspections on border-crossing vehicles in Haskovo Bulgaria Jan 1 2025 Rom

Full membership for Romania and Bulgaria made possible after Austria lifted its veto - Both countries expect to benefit economically and their GDP to increase by at least 1%

Romania and Bulgaria officially join the Schengen Area on 1 January 2025, removing border controls and ensuring free movement across the EU