Schengen – The outside perspective
What it means to be outside of Schengen can probably best be observed at the little Polish-Ukrainian border crossing Hrebenne-Rava-Ruskanot, 50 km away from Lviv, the economic and cultural centre of Western Ukraine. The Polish-Ukrainian border is the eastern border of the EU most often crossed with roughly 15 million annual crossings. Crossing the Ukrainian – Polish border near Lviv has becomes synonymous with long delays. When buses slowly approach the border crossing it evokes dark memories of a European past when Schengen was not in place. Cars over cars are queuing for 3 hours, on good days, which can amount quickly to 6 hours depending on the Polish border police and the situation in Ukraine. It is the entry gate for a border-free travel zone as wide as Portugal and Iceland. Here, the word freedom of movement is not deprived from its progressive and promising connotation and neither Euro-crisis nor refugee-crisis could change anything in this perception. Statistics show that youth of EU Neighbourhood Countries appreciate freedom of movement, that is maybe more valued there than within the EU.
