We live in the Schengen area now

Today is a historic date for Estonia as it joins the Schengen area. This means no more showing passports or ID cards or waiting at border crossings when going to other European Union countries (except UK and Ireland).

This event changes more than it seems to at first glance.

From the Commission press release:

Enlargement of the Schengen area: achieving the European goal of free movement of persons

As of 21st December 2007, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia will become part of the Schengen area. Controls at internal land and sea borders between these countries and the current 15 member states will be lifted. This will result in a very tangible expression of the free movement ideal: this latest enlargement extends the free movement area by 4,278 km.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso said “As from today people can travel hassle-free between 24 countries of the Schengen area without internal land and sea border controls- from Portugal to Poland and from Greece to Finland. I wish to congratulate the nine new Schengen members, the Portuguese presidency and all EU Member States for their efforts. Together we have overcome border controls as man-made obstacles to peace, freedom and unity in Europe, while creating the conditions for increased security”.

Vice-President, Franco Frattini, Commissioner responsible for Freedom, Justice, and Security declared: “An area of 24 countries without internal borders is a unique and historical achievement. I feel very proud and privileged to have been involved in making it happen. Joining the Schengen space is not an easy undertaking. I give enormous credit to these Member States. All the new member countries, who have put in place significant, state of the art border security systems. Indeed, the extension of Schengen demonstrates the EU’s commitment to facilitating legitimate travelling within and into the EU whilst at the same time reinforcing the security of our external borders and thereby strengthening the safety of all EU citizens “.

Following enlargement, all citizens of the enlarged Schengen space will benefit from quicker and easier travelling. From 21 December onwards, a citizen can travel from the Iberian Peninsula to the Baltic States and from Greece to Finland without border checks. This is symbolic of a united Europe and underlines the basic right of European citizens to move freely.

It will be easier for families, relatives and friends living on different sides of a border to visit each other. Eternal queues at (busy) border crossing points will no longer exist. Border regions will develop together as it will be easier to travel from one region to the other. An increase in tourism is expected, with a positive impact on infrastructure. Evidence of previous enlargements effectively demonstrates this: for instance, at the Salzburg/Berchtesgaden border citizens take advantage of infrastructure on each side of the border, including a large commercial centre at the Austrian side of the border, and a large health and fitness centre on the German side.

Lifting internal border control is also a question of trust between the Member States. It is through a rigorous peer evaluation process that Member States have ensured each member state is equipped to guard the external borders on behalf of all other members and issue visas valid for the whole Schengen area. The new Member States have worked tirelessly to improve, their handling of external border controls, visa policy, data protection and police cooperation.

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The checks on external borders remain the same as new Member States to the EU ha been applying the Schengen external border acquis since accession. The only difference will be that the new Member States will also check third country nationals in the Schengen Information System (SIS). Access to the SIS by police forces on both sides of the frontier will enhance and strengthen security at the borders.

For bona fide travellers, travels in an enlarged EU will be faster and easier. A third country national will be able to travel on the basis of one Schengen visa and will not need separate national visas.

I need some fresh air

Estonia’s smallness causes me to feel quite boxed in, unless I get to travel somewhere every now and then. My last trip was to Finland at the end of September and I feel I need another one soon to some place further.

Next week: Tartu

I have decided to escape from Tallinn for the next week (especially as it is the Blue Week in Tallinn) and go to Tartu. It is a peaceful and quiet place, and I hope I can relax there. I will pop back to Tallinn briefly on Wednesday.

Plans, of course, have the tendancy to change, so who knows what and where I will actually be.

P.S. I have bought a ticket for the Enrique Iglesias concert, those who know me should not be surprised as my taste in music seem to be awfully similar to what a 13-year-old girl might like. I can’t help it.

Moldova elections

Moldova elections
Originally uploaded by Kari Käsper

I was out yesterday all day (from 7:30 to past midnight in the evening) observing elections in various places. In general it was quite well managed, considering the circumstances. I will write more about it later on, but one thing is for sure: Moldova really is a beautiful country, with a lot of really nice people. I hope these elections will be for many of them a turn for the better.

Moldova election visit: Day One

100_4152.JPG
Originally uploaded by Kari Käsper

Thanks to Open Estonia Foundation and Estonian European Movement, I have a great opportunity to participate as an election observer in the local government elections here in Moldova. Today we were briefed about the electoral system and the political situation and were divided into teams. I go to the east of the country, near the breakaway Transnistria region.

Tomorrow will be the hardest day of the visit, as we have to wake up early, drive around, visiting the polling stations all day, and observe the counting in one of them late evening when polls close. They vote from 7(!) to 21 here, so there is plenty of time to see.

It might be interesting to know that in addition to our delegation of 10 people, we have met at least two other Estonians observing elections here through different international organisations.

Moldova update: arrival

I am visiting Moldova to observe the elections here. The people are quite nice, the trip was mostly trouble-free, but still exhausting. We took the plane from Tallinn to Prague (my first flight on Czech Airline), from Prague to Budapest and finally from Budapest to Chisinau (see the photo, the plane was a small Saab, with propellers).

This is my first ever trip to Moldova, first time I stepped on the ground in Prague or Budapest (this time only airports, though) and the second time I have visited the so-called former Eastern bloc country. The first was Kyiv last year.

As there is free wifi at the hotel room (Yay!), I hope to write at least daily updates and thoughts that come to me due to me being here.

World Music Awards

In mid-November I made a quick trip to London to see the World Music Awards. How and why I ended up there? Well, I was following the preparations for the event as Michael Jackson was supposedly going to appear there. I keep up with a number of things going on in the world, and MJ activities are one of those things. There was this possibility for fans of MJ to get free tickets for the WMAs, and I thought I should give it a go, just for fun.

Unexpectedly I won two tickets (there were a total of 100 winners I think), so I had a choice: either to forget about it and not go or try to find a way to go there. So I chose the latter. This might sound bizarre or out-of-character for people who know me, but I do give a lot of importance to random events, taking them for a sign. So me winning the tickets was a sign that I should go. And so I went.

Besides the WMAs another great thing about my visit to London was that I was able to meet a dear friend, who I had not seen for a while. But back to the WMAs…

The event took place at Earls Court, which apparently is a concert and exhibition centre (something like the Pirita Expo in Tallinn). There were scores of fans there already, dressed in all kinds of MJ paraphernalia, which did creep me out a little bit. It was obvious who most of these people had come to see…

Had to stand in the queue to get my free tickets, sold one afterwards to a nice American lady, who had asked to use my mobile (very strange coincidence). Then right before the end stood in the queue for further three hours waiting to be let in.

Once everyone got in it became clear that the place was made for three times more people than there was. Either very poor planning (because the tickets had sold out), or intentionally keeping the crowd sparse… Having been there myself, I think it must have been the former.

I positioned myself strategically between the middle of the stage and the VIP area and directly in front of the place where people would present the awards. Before the show started, VIP area started to fill up. A fellow called Chris Brown created the biggest fuss among the crowd, although I have no idea who he is. There were some local celebrities there as well, who I did not know.

Things got started (after a slight false start) by Beyonce, who performed really well (and who looks really good, even from close distance). I also liked Bob Sinclar and especially Nelly Furtado’s performance. Andrea Bocelli and Enya were a bit boring. Russian Eurovision singer Dima Bilan did his act well (and was given an award for best-selling Russian artist by Filipp Kirkorov). I cannot quite remember who else were there (Bob Sinclar was good). The presenters were interesting: models (Elle Macpherson), celebrities (Paris Hilton, Peaches Geldof, Peter Andre and Jordan), fashion icons (Tommy Hilfiger, Roberto Cavalli) and others.

After another long pause Chris Brown performed Michael Jackson’s Thriller to the surprise of some, looking like a not so good MJ impersonator. Then Beyonce presented an award for MJ, who turned up with his face looking very white. Some guy from Guiness World Records also arrived and gave MJ some sort of award for selling gazillion albums. He said thanks (strangely thanking his children for their support) and left, after which the crowd, who had been in a frenzy from the first moment of seeing MJ, were left quite angry. When Rihanna started performing next, she did not get any love from the crowd, who wanted to see more of MJ (they had been chanting “Michael, Michael” throughout the show, whenever possible). Rihanna sang quite well, despite the outright hostile crowd.

Then there was a longer break and a choir of children stepped on the stage, starting to sing along We Are the World, a charity song written in the 80s by MJ and Lionel Richie. To the excitement of the crowd Michael Jackson appeared as well and sang two or three lines of chorus (for some reason background tape was not used for the song). And then suddenly the music was cut and MJ left the stage. Obviously people were disappointed that that was it, but apparently there was noise curfew from 11pm so they were forced to stop the show (Tokio Hotel for example could not perform at all, although they were there).

On the whole I think it was an interesting experience and I loved it still.