End of border controls: Croatia can join the Schengen area

Status: 12/08/2022 3:28 p.m

Croatia can join the Schengen area without passport controls in January. The responsible ministers of the 26 member states agreed on this. Bulgaria and Romania, on the other hand, are left out. This is mainly due to Austria’s veto.

The way for Croatia’s accession to the Schengen area without border controls is open. The responsible ministers of the 26 Schengen countries agreed on this at a meeting in Brussels, as the Czech Council Presidency announced.

The controls at the land borders of the popular holiday destination are to be abolished at the beginning of next year. From spring there will be no more controls at the airports. For tourists, the trip to the Adriatic country should be much easier. So far, travelers from Germany have often been stuck in traffic for hours in summer to get into the country. Croatia will also introduce the euro as a means of payment at the beginning of 2023.

Disappointment for Bulgaria and Romania

Romania and Bulgaria, on the other hand, suffered major disappointments. Austria in particular blocked their admission to the Schengen area. The current Czech Council Presidency tried to reach a decision for all three countries with several compromise proposals – but ultimately without success.

New members can only be accepted into the Schengen area by unanimous vote. Romania and Bulgaria have been waiting for the decision since 2011.

Karner: Too many migrants to Austria

Austria’s Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, had already announced before the meeting that he would vote against the enlargement to include Romania and Bulgaria. It’s wrong to expand a system that doesn’t work. The conservative politician was alluding to the fact that, from Vienna’s point of view, too many migrants come to Austria, although the countries on the EU’s external borders are actually responsible for them.

According to Karner, there have already been more than “100,000 illegal border crossings” to Austria this year, 75,000 of which had not previously been registered. In fact, unwanted migration to the EU has recently increased significantly. Between January and October, the border protection agency Frontex counted 281,000 irregular border crossings – an increase of 77 percent compared to the same period last year. At least with regard to Romania, the numbers of those who were registered there and who traveled to Austria without permission between January and October 2022 were very low.

The Netherlands also showed resistance to the lifting of controls on Bulgaria, for example because of constitutional concerns.

Criticism from Faeser: Noticeable progress has been made

On the other hand, Germany, like the EU Commission, advocated fully including Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen area. The three countries are already partially bound by the Schengen rules, but internal border controls with them have so far been maintained.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she could not understand Austria’s position. “It was agreed that it would be looked at: Has progress been made? It has clearly been made.”

Also EU Commission for the admission of Bulgaria and Romania

The EU Commission had also certified this progress for the three countries. “The three candidate countries have done what they had to do and they are ready to ensure the protection of our external borders,” said Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas. “It’s unfair not to give them the chance they deserve and deserve.”

The Schengen area currently includes 22 EU countries as well as Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Switzerland. There are usually no stationary border controls at the internal borders between these countries.

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