EU pushes to add Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania to free-travel zone

FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission called on Wednesday for Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania to be admitted to the Schengen area to allow travel between these countries and most of Europe without border controls.

The EU executive asked the European Council, the grouping of the European Union's 27 members, to take the necessary decisions to admit the three eastern European countries to the 26-member Schengen area that stretches from Iceland to Greece.