site.btaEuropean Commissioner "Optimistic" about Schengen Path for Romania, Bulgaria - RFE/RL

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson told RFE/RL in an interview Thursday that she is “optimistic” that Romania and Bulgaria will be fully integrated into the visa-free Schengen travel zone by the end of the year. “Romania and Bulgaria are ready, the Schengen area is ready, so I can’t see any obstacles,” she said quoted on the RFE/RL website.

“It’s time to lift internal border controls now,” she added.

RFE/RL says the interview was conducted on November 19 and will be published in full later on November 21. 

Bulgaria and Romania joined the Schengen area by air and sea in March.

The interview comes a day ahead of a meeting in Budapest with the Interior Ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Austria which has been the last to oppose full Schengen entry for the two Balkan countries and which is widely expected to finally change its minds now.