Passport checks for people flying to and from Bulgaria and Romania will be abolished at Swiss airports, https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics reads. The Swiss government on Wednesday agreed to follow a recent European Union decision to lift internal border controls at air and maritime borders with Bulgaria and Romania. On December 30, the Council of the EU unanimously decided to lift checks on people at the internal air and sea borders with Bulgaria and Romania, as from March 31, 2024. Controls will remain in place at land borders but the council has hinted that a future decision will be taken on the matter. Switzerland, a member of Europe’s passport-free Schengen Zone, is following this decision. Romania and Bulgaria will also be able to issue their own Schengen visas themselves, the government said in a statement on Wednesday. The experience of Croatia's accession to the Schengen area on January 1, 2023 has shown that a decision of this kind does not lead to a marked increase in immigration, non-EU member Switzerland said. Existing instruments, including preventive measures, are used to combat illegal migratory flows and crime. The EU's decision follows 12 years of negotiations. Austria imposed its veto last year to protest against too many irregular migrants arriving on its territory, before agreeing to lift it in exchange for guarantees. Sofia and Bucharest have agreed to step up their fight against irregular migration. Bulgaria and Romania, members of the EU since 2007, have also undertaken to fully apply European law, which stipulates that asylum applications must be processed in the migrants' country of arrival. The Schengen area, created in 1985, allows over 400 million people to travel freely in Europe without internal border controls. It includes 23 of the 27 EU member states as well as their associated neighbours Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Romania has one of the lowest levels of property taxation in the European Union, with annual payments averaging under EUR 100 per person - more than seven times below the EU average, real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox said in an analysis based on Eurostat data. The study found that Romania collects property tax […]
The City Hall is set to hold a series of events dedicated to the Bucharest Days celebration on the weekend of September 20-21, including open-air concerts, theater performances, film screenings, exhibitions, and guided tours. The event starts with "Open Streets - Bucharest. Urban Promenade," which will bring to life this anniversary weekend on Calea Victoriei […]
A Romanian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft evacuated 10 Palestinian patients from Gaza on Wednesday, September 17, in a humanitarian mission coordinated with European and international partners, Romania’s Department for Emergency Situations (DSU) said. The patients, accompanied by 28 relatives, were flown from Israel’s Ilan and Asaf Ramon International Airport to Bucharest’s 90th Airlift Base […]
Romanian developer One United Properties (BVB: ONE) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with lifestyle hospitality company Ennismore to open a hotel under the brand The Hoxton in Bucharest. The Hoxton Bucharest will be located on Academiei Street, close to the University of Architecture. The hotel will rise on the site of three historic […]
Fewer than three out of four Romanians have a good opinion about the introduction of voluntary military service, a ratio slightly lower compared to a decade ago in 2015, the percentage being now lower among the AUR and PSD electorate, according to an ISCOP Research survey published on September 17 in the context of Russia […]
Romanian president Nicusor Dan informed the Parliament that he approved a request by the United States to bring additional forces to Mihail Kogalnicanu base at the Black Sea, in light of the rising tensions in the Middle East, according to
