Photo: Archive
Controls will remain in place at land borders
Passport checks at Swiss airports for people travelling from and to Bulgaria and Romania will be removed. The Swiss government has agreed to follow suit after the EU decided to lift border controls by air and sea for Bulgaria and Romania, said Swissinfo.ch on Wednesday.
On December 30, the Council of the EU unanimously decided to lift checks on people at the internal air and sea borders with Bulgaria and Romania, as from March 31, 2024. Controls will remain in place at land borders but the council has hinted that a future decision will be taken on the matter.
Switzerland, a member of Europe’s passport-free Schengen Zone, is following this decision. Romania and Bulgaria will also be able to issue their own Schengen visas themselves, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.
The experience of Croatia's accession to the Schengen area on January 1, 2023 has shown that a decision of this kind does not lead to a marked increase in immigration, non-EU member Switzerland said.
