Celebrations for the enlargement of the Schengen zone to nine further countries continued on Saturday at the Austro- Hungarian border, reported dpa. At the Hegyeshalom-Nickelsdorf border station EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed the new Schengen members. "We have great expectations that the united Europe will work. Peace, freedom and democracy are important," Barroso said. Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyucsany remembered the historical importance of the Austro-Hungarian border, where the Iron Curtain marked the continent's division. Friday's official Schengen enlargement extends the EU's free travel zone to more than 400 million people 24 countries, abolishing borders to many former communist states 17 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain. "Freedom and democracy have to be preserved. Hungary is ready to protect Europe and keep it secure, because freedom also means responsibility," Gyurcsany said. The ceremony was also attended by current EU President Jose Socrates of Portugal, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico and Austria's Interior Minister Guenther Platter, who reiterated Austria's position that free travel must go hand in hand with the best security possible. "The opening of the borders is an end to the division of Europe. This is a big day for Austria, for all new Schengen member states, and especially for Europe," Platter said. The first Schengen agreement was signed in 1985 and included Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portgual, Spain abd Sweden, as well as non-EU members Iceland and Norway. The enlargement triggered fears among the population in Austria and Germany of rising crime rates after the end of border checks, leading to demands for increased security and police presence.
