Romania could join Schengen before Bulgaria, minister says

Romania's foreign minister Teodor Baconschi has said his country is keen to join the Schengen area at the same time as Bulgaria, but underlined that the rules on joining the visa-free zone do not prevent Romania from entering at an earlier date.

The issue of separate accession dates has become more pertinent following a decision last month by an evaluation group of member states' experts to grant Romania a clean bill of health regarding its compliance with technical accession criteria,...