Reuters:Romania and Bulgaria may become full Schengen members in January, Hungary says

Romania and Bulgaria may become full members of Europe's borderless Schengen travel zone in January 2025, Hungary said on Friday, adding a final decision would be made at next month's meeting of EU interior ministers, https://www.reuters.com/ informs.   Romania and Bulgaria, both European Union and NATO members, partly joined Schengen in March, after an agreement with Austria which initially opposed their joining on the grounds they needed to do more to prevent illegal immigration. While air and maritime border checks between them and the other 27 countries in the travel zone were lifted, negotiations with Austria over land entry have continued through 2024.   "The two countries have made significant steps to gain full membership," Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter told a news conference after talks with his Romanian, Bulgarian and Austrian counterparts.   "We are...one step closer to Bulgaria and Romania becoming full members of Schengen."   Pinter said a package of security measures would be presented at a meeting of EU interior ministers on Dec. 11, including arrangements for at least 100 border guards to protect the border between Turkey and Bulgaria.   Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced on last Monday that the two countries would join the Schengen area next year but described the Budapest meeting, where the four interior ministers would agree the final document, as "crucial". Ciolacu said the Dutch parliament - which has opposed Bulgaria's joining - would also need to approve the document.   Romania and Bulgaria are on major routes for the illegal trade in arms and drugs as well as human trafficking, but the European Commission said after a thorough investigation they met all Schengen requirements.   Romania has described Austrian opposition as unjustified, citing data from border agency Frontex showing illegal migrants have mainly entered the EU from the Western Balkans, not Romania.   European Union interior ministers will vote on 12 December on Hungary's proposal to allow Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen area with land borders, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a press conference in Budapest on Friday after talks with his Romanian counterpart Marcel Ciolacu, Hungarian news agency MTI reports. Hungary which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council hosted on Friday talks between the interior ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania on the issue of the Schengen area extension with the full inclusion of Romania and Bulgaria. Starting with 2022, Austria opposed the extension of the free circulation area in order to protest against what is considered to be a high number of illegal entries on its territory, a symptom, according to Vienne of the malfunctions of external borders.Vienne finally accepted a partial accession for Sofia and Bucharest in March, limited to airports and ports, and established a roadmap for a possible extension for the land borders.The agreement published on Friday includes temporary controls ‘ for an initial period of six months, with the purpose of minimizing the potential change of the migration routes which could result’ from this extension of the Schengen space.   The decision requires the approval of all EU interior ministers and will be taken in Brussels on 12 December, Viktor Orban said. The Hungarian EU Council presidency will make a proposal the day before on the basis of Friday's meeting, he added.   Created in 1985, the Schengen area includes 25 of the EU's 27 member countries as well as the associated neighbouring countries Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. More than 400 million people can in principle travel without border checks.