EU Commissioner for Home Affairs wants Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia to join Schengen

The European Union (EU) must go “back to the future” of open borders once the coronavirus pandemic is brought under control, the EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said on Thursday, May 7.

Johansson also said that, in the long run, the EU would have to “update and further strengthen Schengen," local Agerpres reported, quoting Reuters. "To begin with, I want Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia to join," she added.

Ylva Johansson’s statements signal the EU executive’s desire to have Member States restore the Schengen area of free movement, which has collapsed after the closure of borders in the context of the coronavirus crisis. This situation recalled the flurry of uncoordinated border closures during the 2015-2016 migration crisis, Reuters commented.

“We now need to get back to the future, back to normality. And we need to do so as soon as the health situation allows it,” Johansson said during a videoconference with European lawmakers.

The European Commission wants the EU Member States to start gradually lifting national border controls. Thus, next week, the EC is expected to issue guidelines amounting to a balancing act between avoiding a second wave of COVID-19 infections and allowing economies to revive.

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