Schengen Area

Sweden's permanent representative to the EU, Lars Danielsson, whose country has taken over the rotating presidency of the Union since January 1, has said that he will not initiate a vote on Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen admission in the EU Council until an agreement is reached with the countries that opposed of their accession.

"Romania has no chance of entering Schengen in 2023", said the leader of the Romanian People's Movement Party (PMP) and member of the European Parliament, Eugen Tomac, in an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI). According to him, the government in Bucharest should consider suing the Court of the European Union, BTA reported.

The chief of the European Union visited Croatia on Sunday to celebrate the "immense achievements" of the newest EU member nation, which switched to using the euro and joined the world's largest passport-free travel area on New Year's Day.

There was celebration and joy on both sides of the Slovenian-Croatian border as Croatia joined the Schengen area and adopted the euro on 1 January. More than 30 years after the countries broke away from Yugoslavia, their citizens are once again using the same currency and can cross the border freely.

As of today, Croatia has become the 20th member of the Eurozone and the 27th member of the Schengen area. More than 70 border points with Slovenia and Hungary and 12 - along the sea border are being removed. On this occasion, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is expected in Zagreb.

Despite the growing tensions between Greece and Türkiye, the ports of Thessaloniki and İzmir were connected by ferry as of Oct. 12.

The maiden voyage was set from Thessaloniki to İzmir with "Smyrna di Levante," a vessel that is 160 meters in length and 23 meters in width and is owned by the Greek-based shipping company, Levante Ferries.

Following the Turkish delegations' call to solve visa-related problems, especially faced by Turks, the General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has approved a resolution envisaging reform in the Schengen Information System (SIS).

The Schengen visa-related problems of Turkish citizens, which has turned into an ordeal recently, are on Oct. 11's agenda of the General Assembly of The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

Deputy Prime Minister for Public Order and Security and Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demerdzhiev took part in a meeting dedicated to the enlargement of Schengen in Prague at the initiative of the Czech Presidency.

The Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union has invited the Ministers of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania to Prague on September 13 to discuss the accession of the three Balkan countries to the Schengen Area, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported citing Romanian MP Rares Bogdan.