Good news for anyone planning a flight to Bulgaria or Romania: From March 31 onwards, there will be no more passport checks for people flying in from other Schengen area states. What does this mean for travellers? First and foremost, it will save time at the airports - for example for anyone on holiday at the Black Sea coast and flying to Burgas or Varna, as there is one less queue to join before take-off and after landing. Does this mean I don't need a passport? No. There is still a requirement to carry a valid passport or identity card when leaving and re-entering countries within the Schengen area. Even in the Schengen area, countries can carry out spot checks under certain conditions - which is another reason why it is always advisable to have identification with you. What if I'm not flying and crossing a land border into Bulgaria or Romania instead? The end of passport checks only impacts internal air and sea borders. Anyone travelling by car or coach from another Schengen state, for example from Hungary to Romania or Bulgaria to Greece, will still have to show their passport. During busy holiday periods, you can even expect to have to wait several hours at the border before being checked. The Schengen area is intended to guarantee the unrestricted movement of people in Europe. Border checks between the 27 Schengen members are largely suspended allowing people to travel, work and live in another member country without visas or permits. So far, 23 of the 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are part of the Schengen area. Romania and Bulgaria had been waiting to join Schengen since 2011. Apart from Bulgaria and Romania, Ireland and Cyprus are the only EU countries that are not part of the Schengen area. (Source:https://www.dpa.com/en/international-news)
The third edition of Taifas Balkan Film and Culture Festival, set to take place in Timișoara between October 13 and October 19, will include a retrospective dedicated to Romanian director Radu Jude. The public will be able to see the director's short films, in addition to a preview of his latest production, Dracula, presented at […]
Sursa International Light Art Festival, an event featuring immersive installations, projections, and light structures, will take place at the National Library of Romania from October 13 to October 19. The event brings together international and Romanian artists “in a visual dialogue about technology, architecture and sensitivity,” the organizers announced. “We wanted to build the opportunity […]
Romania’s Defense Ministry has signed a contract worth RON 50.4 million with Rheinnmetall Automecanica, a subsidiary of the German defense industry giant Rheinmetall, for the delivery of drone detection systems, Economedia.ro reported. The radar system will be delivered within 18 months at most and will reportedly be...
The former Steaua Roșie cinema in Cluj-Napoca will reopen as Edison-House of Music, a cultural hub dedicated to music and community, the organizers of the Jazz in the Park festival announced. Built in the early 1900s, the Edison building became, after World War II, the Steaua Roșie cinema. After 1989, the venue underwent several changes […]
Unprecedented amounts of precipitation have been recorded in Romania as cyclone Barbara hit the country on October 5-8, according to the authorities. At the same time, Bucharest exceeded the absolute maximum levels of rain for October. “Between October 5–8, 2025, Romania was affected by the Mediterranean cyclone Barbara, which formed over the Ionian Sea and […]
Romania is one of six European countries recently selected to develop a new artificial intelligence and supercomputing center under the EuroHPC – AI Factories program. The project, known as the AI Factory, will be Romania’s first national AI infrastructure, marking a major step toward strengthening its digital and research capabilities. The initiative will be led […]
