EC asks European leaders to accept Romania, Bulgaria in Schengen

The European Commission has officially asked the European leaders to accept Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen area. The two countries have demonstrated their capacity to defend EU's borders, the EC argued. “It is time for Bulgaria and Romania to become full Schengen members. The EU Council should agree with their accession and raise border controls between these two countries and the neighboring EU member states,” an EC press release reads. The European Commission proposed yesterday a set of measures to strengthen the Schengen area. These measures include the temporary reintroduction of controls at internal borders. The measure would only apply in exceptional circumstances. “In a common area without border control, security issues are common. (...) We can only achieve this in a united and coordinated framework, which should include Romania and Bulgaria,” according to the EC press release. German, Austrian, Dutch officials oppose Romania entering Schengen editor@romania-insider.com