VOA常速英语2007年-Celebration, Some Frustration Marks 'Schengen'

By Stefan Bos
Ukraine Border
21 December 2007

Celebrations are being held across Eastern Europe as the European Union on Friday formally lifted border checks with nine of its newest member states, most of them former Communist countries. But despite the celebrations, there is concern the opening of the EU member borders could lead to a new Iron Curtain with non-EU neighboring states. Stefan Bos has more for VOA in this report from the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.

The European anthem¹ played at the dismantled² German-Polish border post was heard along several frontiers in Eastern Europe Friday. The removal of the checkpoints means EU citizens can now drive from Estonia to Portugal, without having to show a passport.

Shortly after midnight the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta joined the border-free "Schengen" Area.

The Schengen Area, named after a village in Luxembourg where the agreement to remove EU border checks was signed in 1985, now covers 24 countries and gives freedom of movement to 400 million inhabitants.

German Chancellor³ Angela Merkel and Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom have praised the move, but people in some non EU countries are not pleased.

On the border between Ukraine and Hungary the atmosphere is tense. Here in Ukraine, there are long lines of rusty⁴ cars and trucks adding to the irritation⁵ of the already nervous Ukrainian border guards.

Across the bridge is the Hungarian border, which is now one of the last frontiers between non-EU nations such as Ukraine and the EU's Schengen Area.

While those in the EU almost universally welcome the development, some critics claim the agreement could increase tensions with countries outside the Schengen zone.

That's why Hungarian Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz traveled to the Ukrainian side of the border where at least 150,000 ethnic⁶ Hungarians live.

Minister Goncz told VOA that she also distributed the first special permits, allowing people in border areas to travel freely across the frontiers for a distance of up to 50 kilometers, to visit relatives.

"We have been working very hard to provide in one hand more to provide a kind of security to the other Schengen zone countries," said Goncz. "It will be partly the responsibility of Hungary. And we also have been working very hard on keeping the opportunity for people to have a people-to-people contact. We have all kind of things which fit in this concept. We just provided the first travel documents."

Eduard Chuchka, a 37-year-old teacher at a local Hungarian-language school in this border region, sees this as a first step towards a better future for people living in Ukraine and other countries that are not yet part of the Schengen Area.

"I think it is a very good idea. Hungary made a choice to join NATO and the European Union and you see it is now merging⁷ with these Western countries," said Chuchka. "I hope very much that Ukraine will be in the same situation one day and that we will be also belonging to this club."

Hungary, which is now the front line of the EU faces a difficult task. It wants to maintain good neighborly relations, but it is also under pressure to increase border security. There is concern that criminal gangs will try to take advantage of the border free zone.

Illegal border crossing into the EU by people seeking better jobs is another worry. To try to deal with those issues, there have been EU fact finding missions, and authorities have increased border security, with special cameras and other measures.

1 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

2 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

3 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

4 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

5 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。