What are the Chances of Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen Admission Process?
Persons whose visa is approved can stay in Schengen member European countries for 90 days. In this context, Schengen is understood to be a system that allows the member states of the European Union to move freely among themselves.
The region that includes members of the European Free Trade Association and the European Union is defined as Schengen. The Schengen area allows citizens of Schengen member countries to travel freely between Schengen member countries with only their identity cards and passports, without the need for any visa. Citizens of countries outside the Schengen area need only apply for a visa to one of the Schengen member countries. If a visa permit is obtained, the right to cross to all other Schengen countries is granted. Persons whose visa is approved can stay in Schengen member European countries for 90 days. In this context, Schengen is understood to be a system that allows the member states of the European Union to move freely among themselves.
The countries currently in the Schengen area include Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Greece.
Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007 and Croatia in 2013. However, among these countries, Croatia has developed its relations with the EU faster than Romania and Bulgaria and has been able to harmonise with EU conditions and acquis in all aspects more than Romania and Bulgaria. This is exemplified by Croatia's aim to adopt the EU's common currency, the euro, by 2023 and its consolidation of political and economic stability. In addition, the positive steps taken towards joining the Schengen visa, which has been on the agenda recently, causes a motivation among Croatian citizens.
On the other hand, Bulgaria and Romania's problems in their domestic politics, such as "political instability" and the lack of readiness of their economies to adopt the euro, come to the forefront in their membership process to the Schengen area.
As far as it is understood, Austria, one of the leading EU member states, supports Croatia's accession to the Schengen area for the reasons mentioned above, but does not favour the accession of Bulgaria and Romania. Another reason for Austria's opposition to the inclusion of these two countries in Schengen is the problem of irregular migration from these countries into Europe and Austria's perception that these countries cannot adequately ensure border security.
Moreover, Croatia has a more developed economy than Bulgaria and Romania. It also has a liquefied natural gas terminal, which Europe needs nowadays. This capability, together with Zagreb's geostrategic and geopolitical position on the Adriatic coast, gives Croatia an important added value.
Another reason for Austria's support for Croatia is considered to be mutual economic interests. In November 2022, Austria and Croatia launched a joint LNG project. Considering this relationship, it should be considered natural for Austria to 'open the doors' to Croatia.
Aware of this situation, Bulgaria has endeavoured to increase its contacts with EU member states. The fact that this country has been struggling with the election cycle for the last two years has raised question marks in the EU capitals. The Netherlands is the leading country among these countries. For this reason, Bulgaria has made a diplomatic effort to convince the Netherlands to join Schengen. In this direction, Bulgarian Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev and Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov met with their Dutch counterparts in The Hague on 28-29 November 2022, but failed to obtain a satisfactory result.
Bulgaria's electoral problems in recent years have led to the fact that the European States in general, including the Netherlands, have not given Sofia the support it expected on Schengen. Moreover, the fact that Bulgaria is a "transit route" for migration and that there have been question marks in recent months about Bulgaria's ability to cope with this problem makes countries such as Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden cautious about Sofia's accession to the Schengen area.
As a result, it is considered that Bulgaria is unlikely to be admitted to the Schengen system. On the other hand, Croatia, which has a more stable structure both politically and economically compared to Bulgaria and Romania, can easily be said to be included in the EU Schengen mechanism. Romania's situation can be said to be in the middle.
