site.btaSome 100 Bulgarians, Romanians Cross Danube Bridge 2 on Bikes to Mark Admission to Schengen

Nearly 100 people from Vidin and 20 from the Romanian city of Calafat crossed the Danube Bridge 2 on bicycles on Saturday to celebrate the admission by land of the two countries to the Schengen area. The mayors of Vidin and Calafat, Tsvetan Tsenkov and Mihai Cotea, also took part in the bike ride.

The Bulgarian participants cycled a total of 17 km from Vidin to Calafat.

Before the start of the bike ride, Tsenkov said that Bulgaria's natural place as one of the oldest European countries, with its civilizational and cultural contribution to European culture, is in the Schengen zone. He added: "We decided to organize the citizens of Calafat and Vidin and cross the border together as an expression of the will of our peoples to join the European family organically and fully."

Cotea expressed happiness that the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into Schengen will normalize the situation at the border between the two countries. He was hopeful that the Schengen accession will facilitate the implementation of joint projects in the fields of economy, tourism and healthcare.

Tsenkov stated that the road infrastructure on both the Bulgarian and Romanian sides should be improved with the construction of a 200-kilometre highway from Lugoj to Calafat and from Vidin to Sofia.

Bulgaria and Romania became full members of the Schengen free-travel area on January 1, 2025. While internal air- and maritime-border checks were removed on March 31, 2024, the EU Member States decided on December 12 to remove checks on persons at the internal land borders with and between Bulgaria and Romania from January 1, 2025.