Romania and Bulgaria will become full members of the Schengen Area that allows free movement of 420 million people between 29 mostly European Union countries without border checks from Jan. 1, the EU said Thursday.

Romania and Bulgaria will become full members of Europe'sSchengen free-travel area from next month, swelling the number of nations to 29, the EU said on Thursday. Checks at land borders with Bulgaria and Romania will stop from Jan.

"It is a historic moment to finally welcome Bulgaria and Romania as full Schengen members," said Sandor Pinter, Hungarian minister for home affairs, as cited by the press release.