(ANSA-AFP) - BUCHAREST, 30 MAR - After 13 years of waiting,
Bulgaria and Romania are to partially join the Europe's vast
Schengen area of free movement on Sunday, opening up travel by
air and sea without border checks in a "historic" move. Land
border controls will however remain in place due to Austria's
opposition to the eastern European countries becoming full
members of the Schengen zone for fear of an influx of asylum
seekers.
Despite the partial membership, the lifting of controls at
the two countries' air and sea borders is of significant
symbolic value. Admission to Schengen is an "important
milestone" for Bulgaria and Romania, symbolising a "question of
dignity, of belonging to the European Union," according to
foreign policy analyst Stefan Popescu. (ANSA-AFP).
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
