Bulgaria's full Schengen membership to be decided on 12 December

Austria lifted the veto and January 1st is the most likely date when Bulgaria and Romania will become full Schengen members and the land border controls will be abolished. This was agreed at a quadrilateral meeting of the Ministers of Interior of Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria and Romania in Budapest. European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson also attended the meeting. During the first six months, the border between Bulgaria and Romania will remain under increased surveillance.

Long talks, which lasted more than an hour and a half and were preceded by an even longer process of meeting requirements and achieving results, have led to a clear perspective for the lifting of controls at the land borders of Bulgaria and Romania with Schengen countries.

"Today we have seen that both countries have worked hard to become full members of Schengen. There is a possibility that by 31 December we will finish with this topic and that Bulgaria and Romania will become full members of the Schengen area on 1 January," Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pinter said.

A package of border protection measures has been adopted, which foresees the enhanced border controls between Bulgaria and Romania to remain in place for the first six months, as well as between Hungary and Romania. There will also be increased monitoring on both countries.

"With this package to protect the external borders of the European Union, Austria has achieved its objective and is becoming a safer place. We have improved the system together over the last two years. We have strengthened external borders and controls. We had 70 000 illegal migrants at the border between Hungary and Austria. Now we are heading towards zero. The final decision should be ready on 12 December. The Federal Chancellor will be informed of this package of measures and we will take a joint decision, which will be presented on 12 December, when the Council of Interior Ministers meets. Today we have an occasion to congratulate ourselves on the progress", said Austria's Federal Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner.

EU Home Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, noted that at the end of her term in office, the solution that everyone wanted was reached.

"Today Bulgaria and Romania deserve applause. They truly deserve this freedom in Schengen. We have taken a very important decision, which means that at the December Council meeting we can lift the internal controls at the land borders of Bulgaria and Romania", said Home Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson.

- Are we to understand that the aim is to abolish border controls from 1 January, with the exception of the border between Bulgaria and Romania?

- Yes, exactly. Periodic checks will be carried out there, as I mentioned a moment ago, and on the basis of the results it will be assessed whether additional measures need to be taken, explained Bulgaria's caretaker Minister of Interior, Atanas Ilkov.

Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria have also agreed on arranging at least 100 border police officers from the four countries to join in guarding the border between Bulgaria and Turkey.

"This group of 100 police officers at the Bulgarian-Turkish border will give even more security and a greater guarantee for European citizens. It will guarantee their peace of mind and security to a greater extent, so that we meet both Bulgarian and European expectations," Atanas Ilkov said.

Each of the four countries will determine how many people will participate in the joint security. According to the four interior ministers, the principle should be followed that when opening internal borders, external borders should be strengthened and the responsibility for this should be shared.