Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Romania and Bulgaria will join the Schengen zone from 31 March. A meeting dedicated to this event was organized on 28 March at the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan.

The event was attended by the EU Ambassador to Uzbekistan Charlotte Adrian, Romanian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Daniel Cristian Ciobanu, Charge d’Affaires of the Bulgarian Embassy in Uzbekistan Stoyana Rusinova, heads of diplomatic missions of a number of EU member states, as well as Switzerland, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan and the media.

Congratulating the representatives of these countries on the significant event, Charlotte Adrian noted that the Schengen area is one of the most important achievements of the European Union, which can also serve as a source of inspiration for the countries of Central Asia.

The presence of countries in the Schengen zone allows their citizens to travel freely between member countries without going through border controls. This opportunity can also be used by tourists who have received a Schengen visa to visit one of these countries.

Today, the Schengen zone includes 27 countries, and from 31 March, with the entry of Romania and Bulgaria, their number will increase to 29.

“The accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area is a landmark achievement in the European integration project, which will allow citizens and businesses to fully enjoy their rights to free movement. I congratulate both countries on this achievement. This is also good news for Uzbekistan, as new opportunities for travel and exchange are opening up,” the EU Ambassador to Uzbekistan noted during the meeting.

“This is a historic event for us. It was a very long process, and on March 31 we are entering the Schengen zone. I think that this will be very useful for the residents of Uzbekistan. Romania attaches great importance to the development of relations between the European Union and Uzbekistan, and I think that this event will help bring our countries even closer together and strengthen relations,” Romanian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Daniel Cristian Ciobanu said in an interview.

Speaking about the dynamic development of Romanian-Uzbek relations, he noted that a delegation of the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan is currently in Romania. With her participation, a meeting of the joint Romanian-Uzbek commission on road transport was held on March 26-27. Members of the delegation also got acquainted with the work of Romanian ports on the Black Sea and the Danube River.

“And now, by entering the Schengen zone, Romania is only further strengthening its relations with Uzbekistan. Of course, the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen zone further strengthens the European Union, but this is an important event not only for the EU, but also for strengthening relations between the European Union and Uzbekistan, between Romania and Uzbekistan,” the Ambassador of Romania emphasized.

He also said that in connection with this event, Romania expects an increase in the tourist flow from Uzbekistan. Based on the results of the first 2 months of this year, Romania itself took 7th place among the EU countries in terms of the number of tourists visiting Uzbekistan.

“Schengen is a historical process that in practice means free movement between countries. But this also means mutual trust in the new countries joining Schengen, that the European Union trusts these countries, Bulgaria and Romania, and that the necessary conditions will be provided at the borders with these territories. Therefore, this is a very emotional event both for us and for the countries entering the Schengen zone. Romania and Bulgaria became EU members in 2007, but only now are they entering the Schengen zone, which implies responsibility, including to people, responsibility for their movement,” Charlotte Adrian noted in an interview.

Schengen free movement zone in Europe is one of the main achievements of European integration. It was created in 1985 by five EU countries - France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - and has gradually expanded to become the largest free movement zone in the world. This is the ninth round of expansion of the Schengen zone, which will cover 4.5 million square kilometers with a population of 450 million people. It will include 29 countries, 25 of which are EU member states, as well as non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.