Bulgaria, Romania Need Political Decision to Join Schengen - EU Commission

The European Commission said on Thursday that Bulgaria and Romania both meet the criteria to join the European Union’s Schengen passport-free travel zone but it is not up to the EU’s executive body to take a decision.

"This is now not a decision for the Commission, this is a political decision that needs to be taken by the Council of the EU and the European Council," EU Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told a news conference in Brussels, according to Bulgaria’s state news agency BTA.

Referring to Denmark’s decision to temporarily close the country’s border with Germany due to increased migrant influx, Bertaud said that now it is time for a Europe-wide response to the crisis rather than unilateral decisions.

EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said at the same news conference that the the Commission expects that the proposed scheme for mandatory redistribution of refugees among all members states of the Union will help keep the Schengen area free of border checks.

“The Schengen zone is one of the EU’s success stories,” Schinas said, according to BTA.

Denmark temporarily suspended all rail links with Germany on Wednesday after police ordered services to be halted due to an influx of migrants, the BBC reported earlier. Danish police also closed a motorway between the two countries after about 300 migrants began walking north to Sweden after being forced off a train.