Bulgaria and Romania are holding ceremonies to mark their full membership in Europe’s Schengen area, the culmination of years of negotiations by the Eastern European countries to join the ID check-free travel zone.

Romania and Bulgaria scrapped land border controls to become full members of the European Union's Schengen free-travel area on Wednesday, joining an expanded bloc of countries whose residents can travel without passport checks.

Romania and Bulgaria joined the Schengen Area on January 1, 2025, ending land border checks with other Schengen countries — but it means one rule has to now be followed by Brits

Romania and Bulgaria have officially joined the Schengen Area as of January 1st, 2025, offering new opportunities for skilled workers

Romania and Bulgaria became full members of the Schengen zone on Wednesday, expanding the borderless area to 29 members and ending a 13-year wait for the two eastern European countries.

Storyline: Romania and Bulgaria have become full members of the European Union's border-free Schengen area on Wednesday after lifting land border controls. The expansion was officially introduced at midnight Wednesday and was marked by celebrations at some of the countries' border checkpoints.

Bulgaria and Romania marked a historic milestone by fully integrating into the Schengen Area eliminating ID checks at land borders with neighboring European Union countries

Romania and Bulgaria scrap land border controls to fully join the EU’s Schengen free-travel area:: Ruse border crossing, Bulgaria:: January 1, 2025:: December 31, 2024The countries' interior ministers welcomed the first drivers to pass over the Friendship Bridge over the Danube River close to the Bulgarian border town of Ruse.

Romania and Bulgaria have joined the Schengen zone on January 1, a space that now consists of 29 European countries that have abolished border controls between

The Bulgarian border