The green light for Croatia rejected the demands of Romania and Bulgaria

If Croatia is happy with the decision, Bulgaria and Romania will have to wait longer to enter the Schengen area. On Thursday, all European interior ministers met in Brussels to vet Croatia’s application to become a member of the region without internal border controls. From January 1, 2023, this small country will become the 27th member of this vast region. Eurozone.

For Bulgaria and Romania, the news is quite different. Following Austria’s veto, these two Eastern European countries cannot enter the Schengen area.

The decision must be unanimous

Membership, which must be decided unanimously by member states, will promote tourism by removing long queues of vehicles, especially at the borders of these countries.

“Today I will vote against the extension of Schengen to Romania and Bulgaria,” declared Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Garner. Austria is currently facing a sharp increase in asylum applications, fearing that the lifting of border controls with these two countries will further increase the influx of migrants. “This year, we have recorded more than 100,000 illegal border crossings Austria “, he said.

On the French side, the Minister Gerald Dormanin, who was in favor of integrating Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen, felt that this would help “better respect the control of our borders” and control arrivals by road. The Balkans. It is estimated that these three countries “have made a lot of efforts to control their borders”. By Gerald DormanAlong the same lines as her German counterpart, Nancy Fesser.

As a reminder, the Schengen area is an area in Europe where more than 400 million people can travel freely without internal border controls.