The EU member states decided to remove checks on persons at the internal land borders with Romania from January 1, 2025. Following the given decision, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that the lifting of border controls will mean faster and simpler movement, lower logistics costs for companies and increased competitiveness, IPN reports.

"Schengen membership strengthens Romania's strategic position as a gateway between Eastern and Western Europe. Although our country has been technically prepared to meet the Schengen requirements for a long time, we faced a series of obstacles and I became personally involved to overcome these so as to obtain a positive result,” stated the Romanian official.

The Schengen area was established in 1985 as an intergovernmental project between five EU countries – France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg – and gradually expanded to become the largest area of free movement in the world. Belonging to an area without internal border controls means that countries do not carry out checks at their internal borders, except in cases of specific threats. They also carry out harmonized controls at their external borders, based on clearly defined criteria.

The Schengen area currently includes 27 countries. On December 30, 2023, the Council agreed to lift air and maritime internal border controls with Bulgaria and Romania.