Austria was the last Schengen country to have objections, after the Netherlands dropped its opposition to Bulgaria's admission last week.
The issue of opening the land borders has been postponed until next year. Austria, which vetoed the accession of both countries a year ago, proposed in early December what it called "Air Schengen." Vienna stated it was willing to ease air traffic rules for Bulgaria and Romania if Brussels would strengthen the EU's external borders.
Romania and Bulgaria, both EU members since 2007, were excluded at the end of 2022 from the expansive Schengen zone where more than 400 million people can travel freely without controls at internal borders. Their applications were rejected by Austria, which has long complained about illegal immigration due to poorly protected Schengen external borders.
The Schengen Area was created in 1985 and includes 23 of the 27 EU member states as well as their neighboring countries Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.