The Prague Post Online: News: Czech Republic to join Schengen
The Czech Republic will enter the Schengen border-free zone a year from now, following the European Commission's (EC) recent reversal of its earlier decision to postpone entry for new European Union members until well into 2008.

"This means that Europe will soon no longer be divided into two parts," Interior Minister Ivan Langer told reporters Dec. 5.

This issue was felt very keenly by many Czechs who felt like "second-class" citizens. (Although, Britain isn't a part of Schengen either.) It was also interesting that Langer, when he learned that Slovakia might not be ready for the change, was ready to introduce border patrols on the Czech-Slovak border - although that border is much easier to pass than the Czech-German border. Shows that the new countries are willing to lobby together but not to fall together.