Schengen Zone Expansion Finally Confirmed
EU interior minister gave the final green light on Thursday to the expansion of the Schengen no-border zone to nine countries, including Slovenia, which will create a 24-country area stretching over 3.6m sq. kilometres in which EU citizens will be able to travel without passports.
This is a "very nice Christmas present" and one of the most tangible benefits of EU citizenship, European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini told the press, referring to the dismantling of border checks on 21 December.
Similarly, Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate said people would actually feel "that we are part of Europe and equal citizens of the EU, which we felt for the first time with the introduction of the euro."
According to Mate, the countries joining the zone have met all the criteria for the protection of land and sea borders. He said it felt good, in particular because Slovenia had contributed a lot to the success of the project.
Minister Mate is widely seen as having played an instrumental role in pushing for the expansion of the Schengen zone after the project threatened to falter earlier this year due to problems with the next-generation Schengen information system, SIS II.
The opening of the borders with the nine countries - Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and Czech Republic - will be marked with ceremonies at four border crossings on 21 December, including on the Skofije crossing between Italy and Slovenia.
Mate said that practically nothing would change on the external EU borders on 21 December, as Slovenia was already carrying out Schengen-compliant border checks.
The appropriate authorities will endeavour to prevent holdups on the border, but Mate said longer lines may be expected at the peak of the tourist season (when hundreds of thousands of Europeans travel to Croatia).
When Slovenia enters the Schengen zone border controls will be lifted on borders with Austria, Italy and Hungary. At the same time, the outer edge of the zone will shift to Slovenia's 670-kilometre border with Croatia.
Comprehensive control (identity check as well as phytosanitary, veterinary, customs and inspection control) will be carried out only on the road crossings Gruskovje, Obrezje and Jelsane, the rail crossing Dobova, the Ljubljana airport and the port of Koper. At other crossings only security and customs checks will be performed.
Citizens of third countries will be able to enter Slovenia at all 25 international crossings. Only citizens of Slovenia and Croatia will be allowed to cross at the smaller inter-country border crossings, whereas local border crossings require special border passes issued by local authorities to people living along the border.
Demolition of checkpoints on the old Schengen border has already begun and is expected to be completed in March. Many of the buildings will however be left standing, some to be used by police and others by local communities and businesses.
When security checks on the borders with Austria, Hungary and Italy are scrapped, Slovenia as well as other countries will carry out random checks further inland to reduce what they call the "security deficit".
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