site.btaEU Council to Discuss Schengen Land Borders of Bulgaria, Romania Dec. 12

The decision to abolish checks at the Schengen land borders of Bulgaria and Romania is the first item on the agenda of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on Thursday, documents for the upcoming meeting show.

The draft decision, approved unanimously by EU ambassadors at the end of November, states that checks will be lifted from January 1, 2025.

The EU Council decision is expected after the Dutch government announced in early December that it would support Sofia and Bucharest. In November, Budapest hosted a meeting under the Hungarian presidency of the EU Council between the interior ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Austria, after which Vienna expressed its intention to lift the veto that in 2023 led to the abolition of Schengen borders only by air and sea for the two countries.