Friday, December 13

The European Union has confirmed that they will allow Romania and Bulgaria to become full members of the Schengen area following the lifting of land border restrictions imposed earlier this year.

The Schengen area began as an intergovernmental project in 1985 involving just five countries that were part of the European Union-- France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The project aimed to create a group with no land border controls, allowing citizens of member countries to freely travel between borders without having to undergo checks or extensive screening.

The project quickly expanded, and it now contains all EU member countries except Ireland and the United Kingdom and all members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). EFTA consists of four countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Now, over 420 million people live in the Schengen area.

On December 30, 2023, the Schengen Council decided to lift air and sea border restrictions on Bulgaria and Romania, bringing them one step closer to membership. Those controls were officially lifted on March 31, 2024, but internal land border controls were still in place.

Several countries, including Austria, were concerned over illegal immigration in the two countries, as migrants coming in illegally would be able to access all of Europe if not caught at the border. Internal land border controls can only be lifted after a unanimous decision by the Schengen Council, meaning that Bulgaria and Romania would not be able to join the area unless they worked more towards halting illegal immigration.

Those restrictions were lifted yesterday, though, after the Council finally approved their full membership. This means that beginning on January 1, 2025, land border controls between Schengen countries and Bulgaria and Romania will cease to exist, guaranteeing Bulgaria and Romania full membership into the Schengen area.

This will benefit both countries in many ways, including tourism, culture, and improved security. Foreign nationals living in or visiting the European Union as tourists, exchange students or for business purposes can travel through the Schengen countries without waiting to go through border controls, allowing tourists and people of different cultures to pass between borders easily. It also allows businesses to thrive across countries, benefiting from an economical perspective. In fact, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences calculated in a recent study that with full membership in the Schengen area, Bulgaria could end up with a positive financial effect of over $840 million per year.

In addition, the Schengen area allows for increased communication between police forces and cross-border surveillance of suspects, preventing criminals from escaping into a nearby country to get away from local law enforcement. They also utilize the Schengen Information System, or SIS, which allows officials across the EU to manage alerts regarding wanted or missing people and objects.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Everyone has seen rainbows, but have you ever seen an upside-down rainbow? An upside-down rainbow is an extremely rare phenomenon caused by sunlight shining through a thin, visible screen of tiny ice crystals high in the sky. Interestingly enough, it has nothing to do with rain, unlike regular rainbows. Some people refer to this as a 'smile rainbow.'

Quote of the Day: Patience isn’t simply waiting, it is caring enough about the situation and those involved to remain calm and courteous throughout the wait. (Richelle Goodrich)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Pastiche (noun)- Pastiche refers to something (such as a piece of writing, music, etc.) that imitates the style of someone or something else. It can also refer to a work that is made up of selections from multiple other works, or it can be used as a synonym of hodgepodge.

In a Sentence: The director’s new murder mystery is a clever pastiche of the 1950s noir films she watched as a girl.