By Olga Wasilewska, Michal Thim, Juraj Buzalka, Vladimír Benč, Jerzy Celichowski, István Hegedűs, Sándor Illés, Attila Melegh and Tamás Molnár
Citizens of Visegrad states – the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary – have many common experiences related to the history of the region. One of these experiences is the limited freedom of travel to the countries of Western Europe before 1989. Czechs, Poles, Slovaks and Hungarians know well what it means to struggle with numerous formalities and lengthy procedures in order to travel to a selected destination.
The situation of the inhabitants of the region changed significantly when, following political changes at the beginning of 1990s, they were offered the opportunity of travelling to Western Europe without the need to obtain visas. This development can be assumed to have had a great influence on the course of later changes in the region. The possibility to travel to Western Europe brought about the chance to acquaint oneself with the rules of democracy and free market economy and the way of functioning of these countries, which was particularly important in the period of political and economic transformation and future integration with the EU. The entry of Visegrad countries to the Schengen area in December 2007 meant for their citizens the freedom to travel as never experienced before, and was one of the last stages of removing the divisions between “old” and “new” Europe. Meeting all the Schengen requirements had constituted a significant challenge to the region; a particular amount of effort was put on the preparation of external borders.
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