In a statement released by the European Council, it was noted that the member states have reached a unanimous decision to abolish border controls on sea and air access to Bulgaria and Romania as of March 31, but a new decision is needed to abolish controls on land borders as well.
Bulgaria and Romania were last blocked from joining Schengen by the Netherlands, Hungary and Austria.
Hungary warned Bulgaria to step back if it wanted to increase the transit fee it imposed on Russian natural gas reaching its country through the TurkStream pipeline, and announced that it would otherwise prevent it from entering the Schengen area. In response, Sofia abandoned its plan to introduce legislation to impose additional transit fees on Russian gas.
The Netherlands, which had long resisted the two countries joining Schengen on migration and corruption grounds, withdrew its objection in mid-December, citing the fulfillment of its conditions.
Finally, Bulgaria and Romania, which had focused on negotiations with Austria, announced on December 28 that an agreement had been reached on accession by sea and air and that negotiations would continue for land accession.
The Schengen area, which includes 23 EU members (excluding Bulgaria, Romania, Ireland and Cyprus) as well as Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, does not have border controls, with exceptions.
