Romania, Bulgaria sign declaration to join Schengen area

Romania's Interior Minister Cristian David and his Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Yordanov Petkov on Friday signed a joint declaration on preparations for Romania and Bulgaria joining the Schengen area in 2011, the Romanian Interior Ministry (MIRA) informs.

The signing ceremony was a side event of a meeting in Slovenia of the Justice and Home Affairs (JIA) Council, and attending it were also EU Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs Franco Frattini and Slovenia's Interior Minister Dragutin Mate.

As far as Romania is concerned, there is an agenda for joining the Schengen area, including deadlines and projects to secure the two countries meeting the required conditions for the achievement of this goal between end-2010 and early 2011, MIRA explains.

The projects will be financed from governmental and PHARE funds and also Schengen funds.

Securing the Romanian citizens' full freedom of movement within the Schengen area by entirely removing the borders and fighting crime, as well as free movement of labour are some of the benefits of Romania's joining the Schengen Area, all of which create the prerequisites for better crime prevention and fighting, and at the same time allow for more efficient management of controlled migration and combating illegal migration.

'Romanians will be allowed to travel to Paris or Rome same as they do to Iasi or Brasov, without any restriction or frontier, and no customs. Practically for the Romanians joining the Schengen area will mean full freedom of movement,' Minister David said.

Rompres