Czechs celebrate Schengen entry

The Czech Republic and eight other EU members joined the Schengen border free-zone at midnight Thursday. The lifting of border controls has created a vast border-free zone for 400 million Europeans in 24 countries stretching from Spain to Estonia. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended celebrations at the border crossings Zittau-Friedenstrasse-Hradek nad Nisou, where the three countries’ borders meet, hailing the Schengen expansion as an important step to a one-tier Europe.