Exactly at midnight on January 1, with a symbolic lifting of the border barrier, Minister of Interior of Bulgaria Atanas Ilkov and his Romanian counterpart Cătălin Predoiu marked the beginning of the full membership of the two countries in Schengen. A brass band of the naval forces performed the national anthems of the two countries, after which Ilkov and Predoiu thanked their European partners and congratulated the citizens of the two countries, BNR correspondent Asya Pencheva reported.

Until now, everyone passing through the "Danube Bridge" border checkpoint was subject to a percent check. Since January 1, From 2025, passenger cars travelling to Romania will pay a bridge fee on the Bulgarian side, then they will cross the bridge, and on the Romanian side only a small part of them will be subject to border control using the "risk analysis" method. The same will be true for traffic in the opposite direction, Commissioner Dimitar Chorbadzhiev said, quoted by BTA. The same applies to heavy vehicles.