Schengen membership brings many benefits to Slovakia: official

BRATISLAVA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Schengen zone membership has helped Slovakia significantly, bringing specific benefits to Slovak firms and people, a European Union (EU) official said, local media reported Thursday.

"The great advantage of our membership in the Schengen zone is that we're no longer divided by borders in Europe but united by joint values," said Dusan Chrenek, the head of the European Commission's Representation in Slovakia.

"The removal of borders is extremely valuable and is a symbol of Europe's reunification particularly for us, the people who were separated from western Europe by barbed wire for a long time and who saw some of their own dying in an attempt to cross borders," Chrenek said.

"Slovaks value the freedom of movement and residence very highly and also make frequent use of it," Chrenek said.

The free movement of individuals is among the EU benefits most appreciated by Slovaks, according to a 2017 Eurobarometer survey, which found that up to 85 percent of them support it.

The scrapping of border checks and the adoption of the common European currency has made it even easier for individuals to move freely, with Europeans crossing the now only virtual national borders more than 1.25 billion times every year.

The re-introduction of border checks would create instant direct costs ranging between 5 to 18 billion euros (5.9 to 21.3 billion U.S. dollars) annually for Europe's economy, Chrenek said.

The Schengen zone, which currently embraces 26 European countries, acknowledges the abolishment of their internal borders with other member nations and outside, for the free and unrestricted movement of people, goods, services and capital.

Slovakia became a member of the Schengen zone on Dec. 21, 2007. Enditem