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EU's final Cold War barriers fall

German and Polish border police open the barrier yesterday in Zittau, Germany, at the border triangle with Poland and the Czech Republic, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso look on. PHOTO: AFP

European leaders celebrated the end of border controls along a line stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic yesterday as many of the EU's newest members joined the EU's passport-free zone.

In Zittau, on Germany's eastern fringe -- where the country meets Poland and the Czech Republic -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso raised a red and white border gate upward as children set loose dozens of blue balloons covered by the EU field of stars.

"We are all quite happy to be able to celebrate this truly historic moment together," Merkel said as a crowd of onlookers cheered loudly.

Barroso held an old border crossing sign, calling it an archaeological relic.

On the Polish side, in Porajow, Tusk said the day was "exceptional" for the Poles, Germans and Czechs who came of age in a divided Europe.

"Putting an end to border controls ... gives us a deep conviction that Europe's bad time -- the division in our minds, in our hearts and on the borders -- is definitely in the past," he said.

The ceremony was just one across the EU to mark the entry of nine mostly ex-communist nations into the Schengen area, which formally took place at midnight on Thursday.

Hours before the end of border controls, Polish and German officials gathered at the Frankfurt an der Oder border crossing, east of Berlin, cutting a ribbon to open the way to passport-free travel.

After the border was opened there were fireworks, cheers and Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

But the move has also forced the EU to tighten up controls on its new eastern borders to prevent infiltration by criminal gangs, illegal immigrants and even terrorists.

"It would have been better to wait a year or two longer to abolish the border controls," said Joachim Herrmann, the interior minister of the German state of Bavaria, which borders the Czech Republic. "It's all a matter of how well-protected the border is from Belarus to Poland, from Ukraine to Slovakia."

The EU's formerly communist members have been introducing tighter controls on the eastern border since they joined the EU in 2004, with funding from their richer neighbors.

Meanwhile, the EU's front line in the fight against illegal immigration remains to the south where thousands of poor Africans make the hazardous sea journey to the coasts of Spain, Italy, Malta and Greece, while would-be migrants from the Middle East and Asia take the overland route through Turkey and the Balkans.

Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer dismissed concerns the expansion would aid criminals or illegal immigrants as he symbolically joined Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico to saw through a barrier on the countries' border.

"Schengen is not crime, not insecurity, not fear," Gusenbauer said. "Schengen stands for freedom, security and stability."

The Schengen agreement is named after the village in Luxembourg where it was signed in 1985 by France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. They have since been joined by Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, as well as non-EU nations Norway and Iceland.

Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta joined the EU in 2004, but have had to wait before gaining access to the frontier-free zone pending reforms to bring standards of their police and border guards in line with EU norms.
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