(12 Dec 2024)
RESTRITION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kulata, Bulgaria – 12 December 2024
1. Mid of sign at Bulgarian-Greece border Kulata checkpoint reading (Bulgarian) "Republic of Bulgaria"
2. Close of sign on the road reading (English) "Bulgaria" as queue of trucks seen behind
3. Various of trucks waiting in line at border
4. Close of Bulgarian, Greek and EU flags
5. Various of trucks waiting in line in both directions at border
6. Mid of trucks
7. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Nazum Kasumov, truck driver:
"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. It should have happened a long time ago. We usually queue here for two days. There are problems at Vidin (the Romanian border) and at the Hungarian border as well."
8. Close of trucks
9. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Nikolay Iliev, truck driver:
"If there’s no border check that will save a lot of nerves, delays. A little while ago, I just found out that we are fully accepted in Schengen and that makes me very happy."
10. Various of Kulata border checkpoint
11. Various of border police and Bulgarian customs officials carrying out checks on vehicles
12. Various of vehicles at border
13. Mid of Bulgarian emblem and sign reading (English) "Republic of Bulgaria"
STORYLINE:
Truck drivers at the Bulgarian-Greek border expressed their joy on Thursday after European Union ministers agreed to let Bulgaria and Romania fully integrate into Europe’s ID-check free travel zone, known as the Schengen area.
"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time," Nazum Kasumov said from the cab of his truck at the Kulata checkpoint after hearing the news.
"It should have happened a long time ago. We usually queue here for two days."
Truck driver Nikolay Iliev, echoed the sentiments.
"If there’s no border check that will save a lot of nerves, delays," he said.
"I just found out that we are fully accepted in Schengen and that makes me very happy."
Bulgaria and Romania joined the Schengen area in March after years of negotiations, providing free access for travellers arriving in both countries by air or sea.
However, land border checks remained in place due to opposition, chiefly from Austria, over concerns that the two countries were not doing enough to prevent migrants from entering without authorization.
Ministers agreed to lift those land border controls from next year, the EU’s Hungarian presidency said on Thursday.
The Schengen Area was established in 1985. Before Bulgaria and Romania’s partial admission, it was comprised of 23 of the 27 EU member countries, along with Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Around 3.5 million people cross an internal border each day.
It’s one of the main achievements of the European project.
It started as an intergovernmental project between five EU countries– France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and has gradually expanded to become the largest free travel area in the world.
AP video shot by Valentina Petrova.
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