<h3>Integration of the Czech Republic to the Schengen Area</h3> <p>The pages are part of an information campaign on the integration of the Czech Republic to the Schengen area provided by the <a href="http://www.mv.cz/english/index.html" target="_blank">Ministry of the Interior</a> in close cooperation with other authorities of the state administration of the Czech Republic. According to the current schedule, the Czech Republic should <strong>abolish checks at its land borders on 31 December 2007, and at the international airports by the end of March 2008 at the latest</strong>.</p> <p>What the majority of people may find difficult to imagine will become reality. <strong>The Czech Republic is going to take part in the Schengen cooperation</strong>, thus joining a group of countries which carry out no checks at their common borders and which have brought their efforts to fulfill the right of free movement of persons to a successful end. This will be a symbolic end to the imaginary division of Europe into the &quot;West&quot; and the &quot;East&quot; and it will mean that people will be allowed to cross land borders without the obligation to present an identity document at border crossing points.</p> <p>It is obvious that the word &quot;Schengen&quot; will be mentioned ever more frequently in the Czech environment and the frequency of its use will be rising with the approaching end of the year. But what does this term actually mean in the real life? The answer to this and many other questions can be found on the Euroskop pages dedicated to the issue of Schengen.&nbsp;</p> <p>The strange-sounding slogans such as &quot;The Czech Republic will join Schengen&quot; or &quot;The Czech Republic is preparing for joining Schengen&quot; use the name of a small Luxembourg town near the French and German border, thus referring to a phenomenon the beginning of which lies in the mid-1980s at that very place.&nbsp;</p> <p>At present, the term &quot;Schengen&quot; is most often used to refer to <strong>the so-called Schengen area where no border checks are carried out at common borders, which can thus be crossed at any time and anywhere</strong>.&nbsp; The abolition of border checks is accompanied by various compensatory measures involving extensive cooperation of all Member States applying provisions of the Schengen acquis (Schengen states/countries) in many aspects, such as setting a common visa regime, improving coordination between the police, customs and the judiciary and taking additional steps to combat problems such as terrorism and organized crime.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>More on the <a href="http://www.euroskop.cz/58021/clanek/the-czech-republic-joins-the-schengen-area-/">websites<span>&nbsp; </span>EU</a> <br /></p><p>www.euroskop.cz</p><p><br /><span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>