Ceremonies were held just before midnight Tuesday to mark Bulgaria's and Romania's 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.

Ceremonies were held just before midnight Tuesday to mark Bulgaria's and Romania's 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.

Residents from Romania and Bulgaria can now travel freely in the Schengen area. The combined 25 million residents of Bulgaria and Romania now join nearly 450 million EU citizens who already have the freedom to move around the Schengen zone, after land border checks were officially lifted.

Lorry drivers, who currently wait up to 20 hours at border crossings, celebrated the news of Bulgaria and Romania's full Schengen accession.

Full membership for Romania and Bulgaria made possible after Austria lifted its veto - Both countries expect to benefit economically and their GDP to increase by at least 1%

Romania and Bulgaria officially join the Schengen Area on 1 January 2025, removing border controls and ensuring free movement across the EU

Romania and Bulgaria officially joined the Schengen Zone as full members on January 1, 2025. The expansion ends a 13-year-long wait for the Eastern European nations and takes the total number of Schengen Zone members to 29.