Schengen zone expands

Nine countries were added last month to the Schengen zone, greatly expanding the area of passport-free travel.

The new Schengen zone now includes the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Malta. According to the Schengen agreement, first signed in 1985, international travel without passports is allowed for citizens of member states. The agreement also encourages and permits more judicial and police co-operation.

The addition of these nine states to the Schengen zone grants around 75 million Eastern Europeans the ability to travel within the European continent without a passport, by land or sea. The addition of these former Communist countries represented a significant step away from the Cold War's lingering past.


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Zoe Westof Editorial


12/01/2008



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