Despite the jubilant fanfare surrounding Bulgaria’s partial entry into the Schengen Zone via air and sea in March 2024, a simmering frustration hangs heavy over the nation’s businesses. The culprit? Austria’s continued opposition to full land border access, a chokehold estimated to cost Bulgarian businesses a staggering €1 billion in losses.
Wasil Walev, the head of one of Bulgaria’s largest employers’ organizations, has had enough. He’s calling for a bold, tit-for-tat response: a boycott of Austrian goods, Billa supermarkets, OMV gas stations, and even Austrian winter resorts. “Business will support the government if it decides to take tougher steps towards Austria,” Walev declared, his words echoing the exasperation of countless Bulgarian entrepreneurs.
But Walev doesn’t stop at mere boycotts. He urges authorities to mirror Austria’s own stringent border checks, subjecting Austrian drivers and vehicles to thorough, time-consuming inspections. This, he argues, is the only way to send a clear message: Bulgaria will not be bullied into submission.
Interestingly, reports suggest that such measures are already being implemented, with Austrian vehicles enduring lengthy border waits. This, coupled with Vienna’s own economic losses due to the impasse, hints at a growing crack in Austria’s resolve.
Across the Danube, Romania echoes Bulgaria’s sentiments. The National Union for Road Hauliers from Romania (UNTRR) calls for a definitive date for land border access, highlighting the €2.41 billion burden borne by Romanian road freight carriers due to the Schengen exclusion. “We request the urgent setting of a definite date,” pleads UNTRR Secretary-General Radu Dinescu, his voice laden with the desperation of an industry throttled by bureaucracy.
The battle lines are drawn. The air crackles with tension as Bulgaria and Romania, backed by their embattled businesses, demand their rightful place in the Schengen Zone. Austria, meanwhile, faces mounting pressure from both sides, its position increasingly untenable. Only time will tell if diplomacy or economic warfare will ultimately unlock the gates to full Schengen access for these two Eastern European nations.
