EU official: JHA Council to vote on Thursday on Romania's accession to Schengen with land borders on January 1

The Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) will vote on Thursday on lifting controls on people at the internal borders with Romania and Bulgaria and between them from January 1, 2025, an EU official confirmed on Tuesday.Currently, on the agenda of the JHA Council dated December 9, there is the item "Decision of the Council establishing the date for the elimination of controls on people at the internal land borders with Bulgaria and Romania and between them", based on article 4, paragraph 2, of the 2005 Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania.However, the topic of Romania's and Bulgaria's accession to Schengen could also be addressed in Wednesday morning's meeting of COREPER (Committee of Permanent Representatives) II, but it is unlikely that anything will change, considering the latest developments.Austria announced on Monday evening that it would no longer use its right of veto to block the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, through the voice of its interior minister Gerhard Karner.We can move on to the next step at the Council [Justice and Home Affairs], said Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, quoted in a press release from his ministry. "After 'Air Schengen', 'Land Schengen' is now open for Romania and Bulgaria", said Karner.The only thing on which there is a dose of uncertainty is the provision regarding the maintenance of controls at the land borders between Hungary and Romania and between Romania and Bulgaria for a period of at least six months, by applying Art. 25a (4) and (5) of the Schengen Borders Code, to mitigate the potential change in migratory patterns that could occur as an immediate consequence of the elimination of land border controls and to prevent any serious threat to public order or internal security, as mentioned in the Joint Declaration of Romania, Bulgaria, Austria and Hungary, made public in Budapest on November 22.Asked about this, the EU official with whom AGERPRES spoke stated that "the possible introduction of internal border controls by Bulgaria and Romania is a national decision".Most likely, the decision on the land borders accession to the Schengen area of Romania and Bulgaria will be accompanied by a joint declaration of the two countries with Austria, as happened with the decision of December 30, 2023 regarding the accession with air and sea borders and the one which referred to the "continuation of joint efforts to combat illegal migration".Moreover, Karner stated on Monday evening that Austria's vote against the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area in December 2022 and its insistence on combating illegal immigration led to a decrease in the number of migrants intercepted near the border of Austria with Hungary, the most frequent route entry into the country."Without this veto, this massive reduction in illegal border crossings would not have happened," he said, noting 70,000 interceptions last year through October and 4,000 in the same period this year.Romania and Bulgaria have been already fully applying the Schengen rules since March 31, 2024, when the controls at the internal air and maritime borders with Bulgaria and Romania were eliminated, based on the Council's decision of December 30, 2023. (Photo:https://newsroom.consilium.europa.eu/)