Bulgaria and Romania are holding ceremonies to mark their full membership in Europe’s Schengen area, the culmination of years of negotiations by the Eastern European countries to join the ID check-free travel zone.

Romania and Bulgaria became full members of the Schengen zone on Wednesday, expanding the borderless area to 29 members and ending a 13-year wait for the two eastern European countries.

The expansion, made possible when Austria and other members dropped their objections to the former communist countries joining, officially took place at midnight on January 1, marked by ceremonies at various border posts.

The European Union ministers has agreed to let Bulgaria and Romania fully integrate into Europe’s ID-check-free travel zone known as the Schengen area by lifting land border controls next year.