Why are Austria and the Netherlands blocking the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area?

The Schengen area, which includes 22 EU countries plus Iceland, Switzerland, Norway, and Liechtenstein, recently approved Croatia's accession, but Romania and Bulgaria, both of which wanted to join, were rejected.

For a country to be admitted, all member countries must first agree, but Austria and the Netherlands stood in the way.

The Netherlands expressed concern about organized crime and corruption in Bulgaria. The Dutch prime minister even said that Bulgarian border guards could be bribed with as little as 50 euros.

Austria, for its part, believes that accepting the countries will further increase the number of refugees coming to Europe via the Balkan route.

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