Bulgaria and Romania

Schengen enlargement: Austria drops its veto

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) will now approve the Schengen accession of Bulgaria and Romania after all.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Austria is dropping its veto against the Schengen expansion. In concrete terms, this means that Karner intends to approve the Schengen accession of Bulgaria and Romania at the EU Council of Interior Ministers in Brussels on Thursday.

"We won't get in the way," said the Ministry of the Interior. "After 'Schengen Air', a 'Schengen country' is also open to Romania and Bulgaria," said ÖVP Interior Minister Gerhard Karner in a press release on Monday evening.

Green light for Schengen accession
The EU interior ministers are therefore expected to give the green light in Brussels on Thursday for the Schengen expansion to include Romania and Bulgaria, which Austria has blocked since 2022 due to illegal migration. The EU ambassadors have already prepared a decision on the admission of both countries.

This means that land border controls with Bulgaria and Romania can be lifted from 1 January 2025. The two countries have already been members of "Air Schengen" since March, which means that air and sea border controls no longer apply.

The interior ministers of Austria, Romania and Bulgaria as well as the current EU Council Presidency country Hungary agreed on a new border protection package in Budapest last Friday in order to set the course for the two Balkan countries to join Schengen in January.