As of Friday night (Dec 21st) Slovakia and other V4 nations (Czech Republic, Hungary, & Poland) entered the EU's Schengen Zone. Think of it like an early Christmas present from our bigger EU brothers. What that basically means (practically speaking) for most Slovaks is that they no longer have border controls with neighboring EU nations. It's essentially like traveling from California to Nevada... but without the fruit inspection lines. This idea of open boarders between sovereign nations is an amazing concept. Imagine being able to travel from Mexico to Alaska without a passport! That people can move about freely in an area that once was isolated behind the Iron Curtin just a few short years ago is a radical shift in the right direction. Of course with any change you also have the flip side. Time will tell how these open borders will shift the paths for drug trafficking and illegal immigrants making their way to Western Europe. Also, now that Slovakia occupies one of the EU's easternmost boarder with non-EU Eastern Europe (primarily the Ukraine), security concerns are of top priority to maintain the integrity of the EU. Just two weeks ago Slovak police caught a group of Hungarian/Ukrainian arms dealers trying to smuggle in uranium. Despite all of these concerns, the hope is that the benefits will outweigh the inescapable drawbacks.
If you would like to learn more about Schengen check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement
