Romania, Bulgaria fully join Schengen border-free zone

Romania and Bulgaria have become full members of the European Union's border-free Schengen area on Wednesday after lifting land border controls.

The expansion was officially introduced at midnight Wednesday and was marked by celebrations at some of the countries' border checkpoints.

At the Kulata-Promachonas checkpoint area on the Bulgarian side of the border between Bulgaria and Greece, the checkpoint ceased operations at midnight, and drivers crossing the border were no longer subject to border inspection.

A ceremony was also held at the Ruse-Girgiu land border crossing connecting Bulgaria and Romania on Tuesday.

The Romanian Border Police confirmed that 40 border crossing points are now fully operational without checks, streamlining travel and trade across the region.

Travelers moving to or from other Schengen states, excluding Cyprus and Ireland, no longer need to stop for document verification.

However, authorities will conduct random checks within a 30-km border zone using mobile devices and risk-based assessments.

"In the past two years, there have been long queues at this border point. Some vehicles have had to be diverted to North Macedonia. And now, we have high expectations," said border resident Georgi Trenchev.

According to AFP, both Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007 and reached the "technical threshold" for joining the Schengen area in 2011.

However, some Schengen member states opposed it as they believed that the two countries had not done enough to prevent illegal immigration, and it was not until the end of March 2024 that Bulgaria and Romania partially joined the Schengen area, which means air and sea border controls between the two countries and other Schengen countries were canceled, but land border controls were still maintained.

Economic analysts believed that the full accession to the Schengen Area will help the GDP of both countries grow by at least one percentage point.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that joining the Schengen Area will significantly reduce customs waiting time, reduce logistics costs and attract more foreign investment.

The Schengen Area is an area encompassing 29 European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their mutual borders.

The Schengen area allows more than 400 million people to travel freely between member countries without going through border controls, according to the official website of the EU Council.

Romania, Bulgaria fully join Schengen border-free zone

A high-level mediation team from the African Union (AU) Commission has been dispatched to Juba, capital of South Sudan, to try to ease the rising tensions between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar, and help resolve the current political crisis in the country.

Riek Machar and several senior officials have been detained since clashes erupted in January between the South Sudan People's Defense Forces and the opposition fighters.

Machar was accused of instigating violence in Nasir in the northern part of the country.

The mediation team says it plans to engage Machar, but that meeting is yet to take place.

The AU is urging South Sudanese political leaders to resolve the current disagreement through dialogue.

Machar heads the largest opposition group that has an armed wing in the country, known as SPLM/A-IO.

South Sudan's government says it's still investigating Machar for being allegedly involved in clashes between government troops and armed civilians affiliated to SPLM/A-IO in Nasir.

"The mandate of the RTGoNU (the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity) is simple; that we stop war, we form a revitalized government of national unity so that we return security, sustainable peace in the country," said Martin Elia Lomuro, South Sudan's Minister of Cabinet Affairs.

Meanwhile, Machar's party members are calling on president Kiir to order the release of their leader.

The group argues that the arrest of Machar means the 2018 peace deal which ended five years of violence in the country has partially collapsed.

The government reaffirms its commitment to the implementation of the 2018 peace deal.

It says Mr. Machar is in conflict with the law and that the implementation of the peace deal should not be used as cover to commit crime. However, until now, South Sudanese law enforcement agencies have not charged Machar with any offense in a court of law.

South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, signed a peace deal in 2018 that ended a civil war between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar. Nearly 400,000 people died in the civil war.

Relations between Kiir and Machar, who have dominated South Sudan's politics for decades, remain strained. The clashes and latest political tensions between the two leaders have unsettled many citizens and the international community.

AU dispatches Panel of Wise to address ongoing instability in South Sudan