Two Popular EU Countries Among Belarusian Tourists Join the Schengen Area

• 2.01.2025, 14:13

Now the Schengen area includes 29 European countries.

The interior ministers of Bulgaria, Atanas Ilkov, and Romania, Catalin Predoiu, officially opened the right to free movement within the Schengen area at the border crossing on the bridge over the Danube, Euronews reports.

25 million residents of the two countries will now join the nearly 450 million EU citizens who can already move freely within the Schengen area.

Both countries joined the European Union 18 years ago, and negotiations on joining the Schengen area began back in 2011.

The Bulgarian border with Turkey, being the external border of the EU, is also becoming the external border of the Schengen area, which will be patrolled by a joint contingent of 100 police officers from EU countries from January 2.