Romania and Bulgaria have become full members of the European Union’s border-free Schengen area after scrapping land border controls in the bloc.

Romania and Bulgaria scrapped land border controls to become full members of the European Union's Schengen free-travel area on Wednesday, joining an expanded bloc of countries whose residents can travel without passport checks.

Romania and Bulgaria joined the Schengen Area on January 1, 2025, ending land border checks with other Schengen countries — but it means one rule has to now be followed by Brits

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 scrapped land border controls to become full members of the European Union's Schengen free-travel area on Wednesday, joining an expanded bloc of countries whose residents can travel without passport checks.

Two EU nations, Romania and Bulgaria, are eliminating land border controls to the rest of the bloc after Austria dropped its veto last month. All EU countries except Cyprus and Ireland are now in the Schengen zone.

Romania and Bulgaria have joined the Schengen zone on January 1, a space that now consists of 29 European countries that have abolished border controls between

Bulgaria and Romania have become full members of the Schengen Area on January 1, 2025, marking a significant expansion of the world's largest borderless travel zone.

The Bulgarian border