The removal of border controls between Romania and Bulgaria was supported by the National Association of Romanian Travel Agencies (ANAT) and the Federation of Romanian Transporters (FORT).
In a joint statement published on Monday, the two organizations indicate that Bulgaria has been among the top three tourist destinations for Romanian citizens for many years, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Before the spread of the coronavirus in 2019, Bulgaria welcomed a total of 2.1 million Romanian visitors. Furthermore, according to figures from ACT Media, from June 1 to July 25, 800,000 international tourists were registered in Bulgarian tourist establishments; of these, 260,000 were Romanian citizens and the vast majority of them traveled by coach or car.
“If we add to this the hundreds of thousands of Romanians who transit each year through Bulgaria to the three other destinations in the ranking – Greece and Turkey – if we add the hundreds of freight trains and of trucks queuing for miles in both directions, we are all right in saying that the “Friendship Bridge” and its surroundings are the shame of united Europe, the place where no one wants to be, but where we cannot avoid being at least twice a year.” » declared the leaders of ANAT and FORT.
Noting that the number of Bulgarian and Greek tourists visiting Romania is constantly increasing, the majority of them still arrive by road.
ANAT President Dumitru Luca proposed removing the “unnecessary” border, proving that they are fully ready to become part of the Schengen zone.
Luca said that Europe does not want Romania and Bulgaria to be part of the unrestricted mobility zone. He stressed that under various pretexts, for at least ten years, Romania and Bulgaria have been denied access to the EU’s passport-free zone.
“But… what stops us from creating a local ‘Schengenevescu’, abolishing the unnecessary border between us and thus proving that we are fully ready to enter their Schengen?” Luca said.
Citing illegal migration concerns, Austrian and Dutch authorities blocked the two Balkan countries’ accession to the Schengen area in December last year.
Furthermore, the Austrian Interior Ministry recently told SchengenVisaInfo.com that Vienna continues to hold the same opinion on this issue. The same pointed out that As long as the “Schengen” system does not work, there is no point in extending it.
In July this year, the The European Union Parliament urged the EU Council to allow Bulgaria and Romania to become the new members of the visa-free zone by the end of the year.