EU Agrees to Ease Travel for Bulgaria and Romania From March

  • Citizens will travel easier through ports and airports
  • Balkan countries see first step toward full Schengen accession

Passengers prepare to board an aircraft at Henri Coanda International airport in Bucharest, Romania.

Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg

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Bulgaria and Romania came closer to joining passport-free movement in the European Union after the bloc agreed to ease maritime and air travel for the two countries.

Member states approved a deal Saturday allowing the two Balkan countries to apply the rules of the so-called Schengen system for entering ports and airports from end-March after Austria, the last holdout against the expansion of the border-free area, partly lifted its veto.