1989 was a symbolic year. The Berlin War fell down and in Central and Eastern Europe it was the beginning of the march towards democracy that for many post-communist countries culmulated with the entry to the European Union. Slovakia or as many people say, the Slovak Republic, as not to be confused with Slovenia, took another step in European integration today by having the physical border control with Western Europe removed by joining the Schengen zone.
Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kalinak said last week in Brussels, the last remainder of the Iron Curtain will fall.
At its session earlier in December, the Council of the European Union’s Justice and Home Affairs Ministers unanimously approved the entry of Slovakia and eight other countries to the Schengen zone. Costs of preparatory works for the entry and indirectly related work moved about SKK 3 billion. Marine and land border controls between the current fifteen members of the Schengen system and the new nine members, including Slovakia, will be shut down at midnight, December 20.
Not participating in 1989, it is most gratifying to be present at another important occassion. During the last hours before the entry, there was Schengen party at the border crossings Berg. And earlier that day, Prime Ministers of Slovakia and Austria Robert Fico and Alfred Gusenbauer removed a barrier symbolizing the controlled border.
