Europe's border-free zone expands

[Tender Branson]

Europe's border-free zone expands



Celebrations have been held after midnight to mark nine new states joining a European border-free zone.

The Schengen agreement, which allows passport-free travel across the area, now embraces 24 nations.

Some 2,000 people celebrated with the EU anthem, Beethoven's Ode to Joy, and fireworks in the town of Frankfurt on Oder at Germany's border with Poland.

The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia joined the zone.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Polish PM Donald Tusk will mark the event on Friday morning in the town of Zittau, near the point where Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic meet.

They will be joined by Czech PM Mirek Topolanek and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

On Thursday a checkpoint between Austria and Slovakia was dismantled in one of several events marking the enlargement from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer sawed through a barrier at the Berg border crossing.

Other ceremonies took place in Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Baltic states.

Initially the lifting of internal controls involves just land and sea borders, but that will be extended to airports at the end of March 2008.

Mr Gusenbauer welcomed the extension of the Schengen zone, rejecting fears that it might create a crime wave in Austria.

The European Commission says that one billion euros (£720m) has been spent on beefing up security on the new EU frontiers, including the establishing of missions along the Polish and Slovak borders.

Mr Fico said: "From midnight tonight you can travel 4,000km (2,485 miles) from Tallinn in Estonia to Lisbon in Portugal without any border controls."

Although the enlargement allows passport-free travel throughout the area, travellers can be asked to carry documents by any of the countries concerned.

For non-EU nationals, a Schengen visa allows travel across all the participating countries.

Thirteen existing EU states have already been part of the Schengen accord as well as two non-EU countries, Norway and Iceland.

The UK and Ireland are not involved in the zone - which embraces 400m people - but they have signed up to agreements on security.

A significant element of the Schengen agreement is the Schengen Information Service (SIS) which features an enormous database in the French city of Strasbourg.

The SIS database enables police in any Schengen state to find out whether a suspect has been involved in any kind of crime across the EU.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7153490.stm

[Verily]

Good for them! Hopefully this will continue to spur the dramatic growth we've seen in Eastern Europe since the EU expansion in 2004.

[Tender Branson]

"And 75% of Austrians questioned for a television poll said they opposed the lifting of barriers."

ZZZ, my fellow xenophobic, conservative countrymen ...

Do I have to mention that I belong to the other 25% .. ?

[The Man From G.O.P.]

Even though I would probably oppose this, and fit well with a xenophobic label, Switzerland really needs to get with the program.

[Platypus]

The map suggests that they are expected to join in 2008. I wonder what the staus of Monaco is, and of San Marino and Leichtenstein?

[dead0man]

This is very good news for freedom loving Europeans (and those that like to travel).

[Middle-aged Europe]

The map suggests that they are expected to join in 2008. I wonder what the staus of Monaco is, and of San Marino and Leichtenstein?

I'm merely quoting the Wikipedia here:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement#Non-signatories_of_note

[Silent Hunter]

The Vatican not only has an open border, it doesn't even have one full stop. There's not even an indication on the street that you're crossing an international border.

[Michael Z]

Good for them! Hopefully this will continue to spur the dramatic growth we've seen in Eastern Europe since the EU expansion in 2004.

^^^

and

This is very good news for freedom loving Europeans (and those that like to travel).

^^^

Mind you, travelling to eastern Europe was already fairly easy. When I flew over to Poland last weekend the passport control was even quicker than on the way to France or other western European countries.

[Hans-im-Glück]

It's a very good thing for me, because I live near the border to the Czech republic. Now I don't wait on the border when I need cheap gasoline.

Some people have the fear that this increase the crime, but I think when one man want to come to germany to make a crime, he comes with or without the borders are closed.

[minionofmidas]

It's not as if the controls on the German-Czech border were particularly stringent anyways. At least not when I went there last summer.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I really don't see why Iceland is part of the Schengen zone.  Having agreements like the UK and Ireland do makes sense, but it's not as if being part of the Schengen zone enables Iceland to remove any border posts.

[Verily]

I really don't see why Iceland is part of the Schengen zone.  Having agreements like the UK and Ireland do makes sense, but it's not as if being part of the Schengen zone enables Iceland to remove any border posts.

Airports. There are no customs depots or passport requirements for flights between Iceland and the rest of the Schengen territories (seaports, too, I imagine).

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I really don't see why Iceland is part of the Schengen zone.  Having agreements like the UK and Ireland do makes sense, but it's not as if being part of the Schengen zone enables Iceland to remove any border posts.

Airports. There are no customs depots or passport requirements for flights between Iceland and the rest of the Schengen territories (seaports, too, I imagine).

As if that really adds that much bother to traveling through an airport these days.

[Jens]

I really don't see why Iceland is part of the Schengen zone.  Having agreements like the UK and Ireland do makes sense, but it's not as if being part of the Schengen zone enables Iceland to remove any border posts.

Airports. There are no customs depots or passport requirements for flights between Iceland and the rest of the Schengen territories (seaports, too, I imagine).

The Nordic Passport Union! Since the 50'ies travel between the Nordic countries hassn't requred carying a passport (for Nordic citizens) Norway and Iceland joined the Schengen together with Denmark, Sweden and Finland thus keeping the Union existing. - The Union is more that travel. It is also very easy to change citizenship and teoretically a person can demands that the authorities shall communicate with him in his native language (fx a Dane in Sweden)

As if that really adds that much bother to traveling through an airport these days.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The Nordic Passport Union! Since the 50'ies travel between the Nordic countries hasn't required carrying a passport (for Nordic citizens) Norway and Iceland joined the Schengen together with Denmark, Sweden and Finland thus keeping the Union existing. - The Union is more that travel. It is also very easy to change citizenship and theoretically a person can demands that the authorities shall communicate with him in his native language (fx a Dane in Sweden)

Well considering that Danish and Norwegian are just Swedish dialects, I don't see what the fuss is.

Go Kalmar!

[Jens]

The Nordic Passport Union! Since the 50'ies travel between the Nordic countries hasn't required carrying a passport (for Nordic citizens) Norway and Iceland joined the Schengen together with Denmark, Sweden and Finland thus keeping the Union existing. - The Union is more that travel. It is also very easy to change citizenship and theoretically a person can demands that the authorities shall communicate with him in his native language (fx a Dane in Sweden)

Well considering that Danish and Norwegian are just Swedish dialects, I don't see what the fuss is.

Go Kalmar!

Hey!, Norwegian is a Danish dialect and Swedish is Danish spoken by very drunk people

(but hey, try to understand Finnish. That language does not make any sense)