LYMEC urges that Romania and Bulgaria, together with Croatia, should be accepted to join the Schengen Area. As we are one Union, with the same rights and responsibilities, it is important that also the Eastern Member States are fully respected and that their sense of belonging in the EU is being reinforced.

Yesterday, the EU countries voted for Croatia to join the Schengen Area, but left Romania and Bulgaria out. LYMEC points out that it is highly important that also Romania and Bulgaria are accepted, as an enlarged Schengen area without internal border controls could make the external border controls more effective and, in the long run, make Europe safer. 

Both Bulgaria and Romania have gone in for stronger border management, surveillance and border checks and have structures in place to ensure the respect of fundamental rights. The countries completed the Schengen evaluation process already in 2011 and have since then been working to implement and reinforce the attributes of Schengen. Adding to that, both of these countries joined the EU in 2007 and have proved to share our values for over 15 years. Nevertheless, there are some countries that still block their inclusion into the Schengen Area.