2025 Welcomes a New Schengen Country at Our Southern Borders

As of January 1, 2025, Romania has officially become a member of the Schengen Area, marking a historic milestone in the expansion of the community. The European Union has made the decision in December, under the Hungarian EU Presidency, to abolish internal land border check for Romania and Bulgaria. The Hungarian government expects economic and trade relations to flourish with the abandonment of border checks.

Romania’s accession to the Schengen zone is an important national satisfaction for Hungary, as the abolition of border controls has separated millions of Hungarians. But what we have done now we have also done for our Romanian friends, said Levente Magyar, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade at the symbolic opening of the border crossing between Pocsaj (Eastern Hungary) and Biharfélegyháza (Roșiori).

At Tuesday night’s ceremony marking Romania’s accession to the Schengen area, the State Secretary recalled that there are many who remember the time when the settlements were not divided by a strictly guarded state border. However, this transitional state did not last long and ended 80 years ago. He stressed that the Romanian-Hungarian border was one of the most controlled ones in Europe, despite both countries belonging to the socialist bloc. How many Hungarians, especially from Transylvania region, have paid with their lives even in the second half of the 1980s for risking escape from Ceausescu’s state? Who would have thought in those dark times that there would still be a free world, let alone free border crossings, he lamented.

One of the first vehicles after the opening of the state border between Hungary and Romania at the crossing point of Csanádpalota on 31 December 2024. Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt

The politician emphasized that history had now turned the wheel and given back something of what had been taken away. The opportunity for the joint development of the Hungarian-Romanian border regions, the strengthening of natural economic, social and transport links and, above all, the gift of free movement.

The even also marked the opening of ten new road links to Romania, in addition to the existing twelve that connect Hungary with Romania. This will reduce the average distance between the crossings from the current 37 kilometers to 20 kilometers, said the State Secretary.

“We will not always agree on everything about the past, and perhaps we do not have to, but I would like to make it clear that we Hungarians are very much interested in the closest and most prosperous relations with you, as our efforts to achieve Romania’s Schengen accession prove.”

“From now on, it is our common task to preserve this historic achievement and to preserve it with the European Union, as we see every day how mistaken measures taken by Brussels jeopardize the whole of Schengen”, he stressed.

Photo: MTI/Lehoczky Péter

Speaking to the Hungarian public media, Levente Magyar said that the significance of Romania’s accession to Schengen is that it means the practical end of one of Hungary’s most, if not the most painful, Trianon borders. It is a border of nearly 5,000 kilometers that for more than a hundred years separated not only Hungary and Romania, but also Hungary and Transylvania. This border has now evaporated, leaving nothing more than an administrative, virtual line, the politician reminded. He added that with the border between the two countries gone, trade would be boosted, the economy of the border areas would improve and Romania would experience a very significant economic growth.

The State Secretary emphasized that

Hungary had played a crucial role in the accession, as Romania had been a member of the EU for almost 20 years, during which time the biggest member states had also held the presidency, but no one had been able to bring them into the Schengen Area.

According to Levente Magyar, Hungary’s increased international prestige, its ability to assert its interests and the successful personal diplomatic efforts of the Prime Minister have all contributed to this historic achievement.

Hungarian EU Presidency: Bulgaria and Romania Join Schengen Area from January 1.

The Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council played a pivotal role in advancing Schengen enlargement.Continue reading

Hungarian and Romanian law enforcement leaders met at the border crossing point of the Csanádpalota motorway on the occasion of Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area, as police.hu reported.

Ödön Szabó, a politician of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania wrote in a Facebook post that abolishing the borders is a historic moment that should be celebrated with dignity, reported Krónika online. In his words, they cut the chain of separation in the new year. “Let us be clear: we belong to the Europe, the way, the culture, the Christianity that St Stephen chose. It feels good to experience the good moments of history!”

Via MTI, Featured Image via MTI/Lehoczky Péter

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