EU expected to approve Schengen membership for Romania, Bulgaria
Another EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council meeting begins today in Brussels.
Bringing together justice and interior ministers from the EU’s 27 member states, a key agenda item is the anticipated approval of Romania and Bulgaria for full Schengen membership. Although both countries gained partial membership in March 2024, Austria had vetoed their land-border access citing concerns over irregular migration. This veto was lifted on November 22 after Austria, Hungary, and the two candidates issued a joint statement on migration.
While the EU has maintained a united front amid the war in Ukraine and a continent-wide political shift to the right, divisions remain visible. Slovakia and Hungary have taken stances sympathetic to Moscow, occasionally obstructing EU efforts to support Ukraine. Romania, meanwhile, faces domestic turbulence; its top court annulled presidential election results amid allegations of Russian interference. Austria and the Netherlands have also seen far-right, EU-skeptic parties prevail in recent legislative victories.
The two-day JHA meeting is expected to confirm Romania and Bulgaria’s full Schengen accession, effective January 1, 2025—marking a significant win for EU unity. In the short term, Schengen expansion counters border control measures reintroduced by countries like Germany over migration concerns. In the medium to long term, solidifying these nations’ legal and economic ties with the EU is vital to countering Russian influence operations and bolstering stability on the bloc’s eastern border, especially as Ukraine remains both at war and in EU accession negotiations.
