The EU states have decided to admit Croatia to the Schengen area on January 1, 2023.
This eliminates the controls at the borders.
This was announced by the Czech Council Presidency in Brussels on Thursday.
There was no majority for the admission of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area.
All three countries were originally intended to be included.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) spoke out in favor of the three countries being admitted on Thursday morning in the run-up to the meeting of EU interior ministers.
The EU Commission had also recently pushed for this.
Austria and the Netherlands reject Bulgaria's and Romania's accession to the Schengen area because they fear an increase in migration via the Balkan route.
At the start of the meeting, Faeser emphasized that all the procedures provided for by the Schengen Agreement must be observed by the states: “That means registration directly at the external borders.
That is a very important point for us.”
The Schengen area currently includes 22 EU countries as well as Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.
It is the world's largest area of freedom of travel.