The most popular island among tourists expects to enter Schengen in 2024. We are talking about Cyprus – there, entry into the Schengen area was named one of the main priorities in foreign policy next year. This was officially announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, Konstantinos Kombos, calling the island’s main priorities the accession of Cyprus to the Schengen zone and the visa-free regime program with the United States.
The history of “relations” between Cyprus and Schengen is as follows. Cyprus joined the EU back in 2004, but never joined the Schengen zone. In 2019, the country declared its readiness to join Schengen, and then Cyprus underwent a comprehensive assessment process covering five areas of compliance with the status of the Schengen zone country. The last of them concerned the integration with the Schengen Information System (SIS), which Cyprus joined in July this year, thus fulfilling all the preconditions for joining Schengen.
As a result, the issue of accession to the Schengen area may be submitted to the Council of Ministers of the EU. While there are no official statements regarding his entry, unofficially, “European observers” believe that the chances in Cyprus are significantly higher than those who rush to the Schengen zone of Bulgaria and Romania, which are constantly “blocked” by Austria. As a result, the chances of Cyprus joining Schengen next year are 50/50. If this does not happen in 2024, 2026 is looming ahead, when Cyprus will preside over the EU, and may once again try to include the country in Schengen.