BUCHAREST - Romania and Bulgaria will fully join Europe's open-borders Schengen area from January 2025 after a crucial meeting in neighboring Hungary on Friday, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Monday.

European Union and NATO members Romania and Bulgaria entered the 29-country Schengen area by air and sea in March after reaching a partial agreement with Austria, which had initially opposed their joining saying illegal immigration was still too high and that the two countries needed to do more to prevent it.

Negotiations for land entry continued through 2024.

Hungary will host a meeting of Austrian, Romanian and Bulgarian interior ministers on Friday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said earlier this month.

"The meeting on Friday is very important, that is why I agreed with Hungary's prime minister I will go to Hungary ... on the day interior ministers get together to close the final document," Ciolacu told private television channel Antena3.

He said the Dutch parliament - which had opposed Bulgaria's joining - will also need to approve the document.

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"But we already have an agreed calendar. It will happen from Jan 1, 2025. Those who come home for the holidays will leave much easier after."

Ciolacu did not mention Bulgaria but the two country's accession has been treated as a package deal.

Romania and Bulgaria are on major routes for the illegal arms trade and drug and human trafficking, but the European Commission has said a thorough investigation has shown they met all Schengen requirements.

Joining Europe's open-borders area would add half a percentage point to Romania's annual economic growth, the finance ministry has estimated.

Romania holds the first round of a presidential election on Sunday, with Ciolacu expected to come first. A run-off ballot will be held on Dec 8.