Bulgaria, Romania take first steps into Europe's visa-free zone

(ANSA-AFP) - BUCHAREST, 30 MAR - After 13 years of waiting, Bulgaria and Romania are to partially join the Europe's vast Schengen area of free movement on Sunday, opening up travel by air and sea without border checks in a "historic" move. Land border controls will however remain in place due to Austria's opposition to the eastern European countries becoming full members of the Schengen zone for fear of an influx of asylum seekers.
    Despite the partial membership, the lifting of controls at the two countries' air and sea borders is of significant symbolic value. Admission to Schengen is an "important milestone" for Bulgaria and Romania, symbolising a "question of dignity, of belonging to the European Union," according to foreign policy analyst Stefan Popescu. (ANSA-AFP).