Final preparations before Romania's entry into the Schengen area with sea and air borders

Final preparations are being made ahead of Sunday, the first day when there will be no border controls at the 17 airports and 4 seaports for those travelling to the Schengen area.

This is the date from which Romania will be welcomed into the free movement area, but only with air and sea borders, not land borders.

At Otopeni Airport, the country's largest, the control gates in the Departure Terminal are being reconfigured, and at the Interior Ministry, state secretary Bogdan Despescu explained how border guards will work from Sunday.

"Concretely, people entering the terminal will not be subject to border control, as it is today. Passengers will go directly to the boarding gates and all along this route, they will be checked by the Border Police, joint teams of the Romanian Police, the Romanian Gendarmerie and the General Inspectorate for Immigration. I would like to point out that these counters, which today are for both Schengen and non-Schengen, will operate from Sunday only on the non-Schengen flow."

Translated by: Radu Matei