The member countries of the European Union have opened the way for Bulgaria and Romania to become full members of the Schengen free movement zone, from the beginning of next year.
"It is a historic moment that we finally welcome Bulgaria and Romania", said the Minister of the Interior of Hungary, Sandor Pinter, whose country is currently in charge of the Presidency of the European bloc.
Bulgaria and Romania, both EU member states since 2007, have been partially integrated into the free movement zone since March, having only been allowed air and sea traffic, without border controls.
Austria had refused full acceptance of these countries into Schengen, citing concerns about migration.
However, Vienna said on Monday that it would not use its veto at Thursday morning's ministerial meeting, so the two countries will be full members from January 1, 2025.
Bucharest and Sofia have met all the technical criteria set by Brussels in 2010, but they have waited more than a decade to become part of Schengen, as some countries have been against it for years.
Austria gave up its veto, only after the three countries signed the "border protection package".
The agreement envisages joint engagement of border guards on the Bulgarian-Turkish border, and temporary border controls on land routes for a period of six months.
Established in 1985, the Schengen area consists of 29 countries – 25 of the 27 countries of the European bloc, plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
This is the largest area in the world without internal border controls.
More than 400 million people can travel freely within it./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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