“It’s time to lift internal border controls now,” European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson believes. In an interview with RFE/RL she said she was optimistic about Austria’s decision. Asked what the arguments are for blocking the road of the two countries to full membership, Ylva Johansson said: “Romania and Bulgaria are ready, the Schengen area is ready, so I can’t see any obstacles,” adding that she hoped this will happen before the end of her term of office in a few weeks’ time. Bulgaria and Romania are better prepared to cope with the Schengen area and the land borders than some member states, Ylva Johansson believes.

• Council of the EU agrees to remove air and maritime internal border controls with Bulgaria and Romania

“This time there are signals and hope that all obstacles on Bulgaria and Romania’s road to the Schengen area by land will be removed,” said MEP Andrey Kovachev in Strasbourg, and added that he is expecting today’s meeting of the interior ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Austria in Budapest with a great deal of interest. The meeting is discussing Austria’s conditions for the two countries’ full accession to the Schengen area.

• Bulgaria and Romania to discuss full Schengen membership with Austria in Budapest

On the eve of the meeting, Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said, in an interview with APA, that Bulgaria and Romania had made significant progress in the protection of the external borders and in combatting illegal migrant trafficking. "We see that these efforts are paying off, and we want to continue on this path and adopt a new package," he said.

The new conditions will include increasing the financing of the protection of the external borders and more border checks between the two countries.