site.btaEC Welcomes Austria's Proposal to Ease Bulgaria and Romania into Schengen

The European Commission (EC) on Monday described as a positive development Austria's proposal to ease Bulgaria and Romania into the EU's Schengen free-travel zone by abolishing airport passport checks. "We are glad to see that things are moving in a positive direction," EC Spokesperson Christian Wigand told a news conference.

Wigand said that discussions nevertheless continue, and the EC is ready to provide its support as necessary. Noting that the protection of EU external borders is a priority for the EC, he said: "We will ensure that the necessary funding is made available. As regards Frontex, the Agency stands ready to increase its support as needed. Let me also remind of our well-known position that Bulgaria and Romania are ready to fully join the Schengen area, which we have been saying since 2011. We have also done several fact-finding missions in Romania and Bulgaria to basically check how everything works in practice. Two of them were done in 2022 and one at the end of November this year. They led to clear results that things are working as they should, and the two member states fulfill the criteria."