What's keeping Bulgaria and Romania out of Schengen?
Since its creation in 1985 in a small Luxembourgish town, the Schengen Area has become one of most emblematic and tangible results of European integration: entire generations have grown used to travelling across borders without the need to carry a passport or cross border controls.
While Schengen was initially established in parallel to the European Union, it was eventually incorporated into the bloc's law and now acts as a central pillar propping up the single market.
The zone now covers 26 nations, including 22 EU countries, and almost 420 million citizens.
But a handful of EU countries have yet to enjoy the benefits of passport-free travel.
This is the case of Bulgaria and Romania, two countries that joined the EU in 2007 and have patiently waited at Schengen's doorstep.
The two bids were never going to be easy ride but, after more than a decade in the queue, the process has become a source of frustration for Sofia and Bucharest.
Joining Schengen requires, among other things, the application of common rules, proper management of external borders, sharing of security information and efficient police cooperation.
The governments insist that they met the necessary criteria years ago. Last summer, they even joined Schengen's common visa system as read-only participants, despite the checks on their borders.
The European Commission and the European Parliament are unequivocally on their side: the executive has repeatedly confirmed the candidates have fulfilled all technical conditions while MEPs have criticised their exclusion as discriminatory.
Bulgaria and Romania are so convinced about their readiness that they invited a fact-finding mission of experts to visit their nations and carry an additional evaluation.
But one obstacle
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