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EDITORIALS

The naxal menace
The nation must fight it out
P
rime Minister Manmohan Singh has only stated the obvious when he says that Maoists pose the single biggest security challenge to India. There are other terrorist outfits adding to the woes of the country, but the Left-wing extremism is worse than all others. It has already spread its tentacles to in varying degrees to over 165 districts in 12 states.

Games cartels play
Consumers have been charged more for cement
One of the worst aspects of the market economy is the ease with which unscrupulous companies sometimes come together to form price cartels and fleece the consumer. It is outrageous that as many as 41 cement firms, including almost all the major manufacturers, have been found caught in a price cartel, grossly overcharging hapless customers.




EARLIER STORIES

Focus on farms
December 21, 2007
Back to Tytler
December 20, 2007
Why can’t heads roll?
December 19, 2007
The Chhattisgarh escape
December 18, 2007
Shed the old for the new
December 17, 2007
Reforming the system
December 16, 2007
People getting confused
December 15, 2007
Putin and power
December 14, 2007
Gun in schoolbag
December 13, 2007
Balance of power
December 12, 2007


Greenest minds
Boormajra schoolchildren show the way
T
he state that shot into fame because of its Green Revolution has come into the limelight again because of the “green” achievements of the students and teachers of Government Senior Secondary School, Boormajra, near Ropar. The school has done remarkably well in raising the environmental awareness of the general public as well as in setting a good example of conserving resources.

ARTICLE

A Tribune Debate
Judges vs Judges
Make the Constitution a living reality
by Harish Salve
T
he debate on judicial activism has been raging with varying intensity over the past few years, and has acquired a new life as it were, by the observations in a recent judgment of the Supreme Court. The underlying message of the critics deserves to be articulated plainly – that two courageous judges of the Supreme Court have candidly admitted that they were doing something horribly wrong and now its time the courts limited themselves to the role of a dispute resolution tribunal, leaving the politicians and the civil servants to deal with the woes of the people. The judgment, if read carefully, says nothing of the sort.

MIDDLE

A royal prison indeed
by Trilochan Singh Trewn
S
weden is considered to be an ideal welfare state with the country’s total population not exceeding that of Greater Delhi. It is also one of the highest taxed states. This enables the government to extend liberal welfare benefits to its citizens. Keeping this in mind we made up our mind to visit one of Swedish prisons to know how the country treats its prisoners.

OPED

Castro hints he may quit
by David Usborne
H
e has ruled his communist isle in the Caribbean for almost five decades, but this week the people of Cuba are waking up to a new reality: the possibility that Fidel Castro, already laid low for 16 months by serious stomach surgery, may at last be preparing to voluntarily relinquish his leadership role.

News analysis
Musharraf vs civil society
by Wilson John
S
ome recent decisions by President Pervez Musharraf, after quitting as the Chief of Army Staff, clearly point to his attempts to consolidate power as a civilian head of the government before the new civilian dispensation takes shape in Islamabad next month.

Europe: A continent without borders
by Christian Retzlaff and Kim Murphy
B
ERLIN — Europe edged a step closer to full integration Friday with the removal of many of the region’s last internal border posts, a move that will entrust the European Union’s nine newest members with policing its eastern frontiers.

 

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The naxal menace
The nation must fight it out

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has only stated the obvious when he says that Maoists pose the single biggest security challenge to India. There are other terrorist outfits adding to the woes of the country, but the Left-wing extremism is worse than all others. It has already spread its tentacles to in varying degrees to over 165 districts in 12 states. Most of these like Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are contiguous and there are large areas where the government writ does not run. Even where it has this semblance of control, it is present only during daytime. The terrorists are not only showing better coordination but are also improving their strike capabilities and becoming bolder in their action. The statistics which the governments normally dole out do not really bring out the enormity of the threat naxalism is posing to the nation’s stability.

Successive governments at the Centre and the states are themselves to blame for this sorry state of affairs. They gave a long rope to the killers hoping against hope that they would hang themselves. They did not and it is the governments which are now tied in the knots. The kind of coordinated action which the Prime Minister has now recommended against them while addressing Chief Ministers attending a conclave on internal security should have been the course of action right since the Maoist uprising began in 1967, but it was allowed to fester till the monster became too big. Petty poliltics and rivalries made sure that the administration never went for the jugular. Deadly strikes made by the Maoists meanwhile have left the police demoralised, jails open for early escapes and the government in disarray. Working on Dr Manmohan Singh’s advice will be a tall order but there is no other alternative. The advice is as much for his government as well as of the states.

At the same time, it is also necessary to tackle socio-economic factors like poverty and widespread unemployment which help in the spread of Left extremism. It all boils down to good and responsive governance. Pity that instead of giving that to the public, most governments are unable to tackle naxalism even as a law and order problem. The menace will spread if it remains unchecked.

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Games cartels play
Consumers have been charged more for cement

One of the worst aspects of the market economy is the ease with which unscrupulous companies sometimes come together to form price cartels and fleece the consumer. It is outrageous that as many as 41 cement firms, including almost all the major manufacturers, have been found caught in a price cartel, grossly overcharging hapless customers. At a time when India is growing at close to 10 per cent, with the real estate and construction business doing very well, one can imagine the huge quantities that the cement industry is dealing with. The country would want them to revel in the sheer volume of business, certainly, but not succumb to greed and resort to overpricing.

It is such practices that distort market economies, and ultimately hit the common man. It is not the builder of a chain of flats, for example, who takes the hit. It is the ultimate buyer who might put his life savings in a little flat, called home. Cartels hit businesses and infrastructure too. At a time when the country is sorely in need of augmenting its transport infrastructure with modern concrete roads and world class airports, the last thing we need is the greed of industry.

The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) has done well to issue a strict warning to the companies against repetition of such practices. In fact, the imposition of a few stiff fines would not have been out of place. The Director General, Investigation and Registration (DGIR), which brought in the original complaint, should step up its vigilance. It named 44 companies in its complaint, of which 41 were found guilty, in a specific period in 1990, when there was a cement shortage. Seventeen years is a long time and speedier decisions are needed. In any case, the verdict points to the ever-present danger of cartelisation, and the need for vigilance to protect the consumer. There is also a need for examining other industries also to ensure that the consumer is not being a victim of the games cartels play.

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Greenest minds
Boormajra schoolchildren show the way

The state that shot into fame because of its Green Revolution has come into the limelight again because of the “green” achievements of the students and teachers of Government Senior Secondary School, Boormajra, near Ropar. The school has done remarkably well in raising the environmental awareness of the general public as well as in setting a good example of conserving resources. It topped in the Gobur Times Green Schools Award given by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). What is noteworthy is that the winner is a government school, not an elite institution. Indeed, concern for the environment has to be universal and it is heartening that this rural school has won the prize for the second time in a row. It competed with 3,500 from across the nation this year, as compared with 1,200 schools when the programme started in 2006.

The programme and the award are a welcome step in increasing the environmental awareness among the children, when they are at their most impressionable age. It is now widely recognised that sensitising children often also results in their families being sensitised, which in turn affects the entire society. The list of 20 greenest schools in India includes Government Saragrahi Secondary School, Amritsar, Eicher School, Parwanoo, and Salwan Public School, Gurgaon, which is among the eight schools in the NCR that are in the top 20.

For far too long environmental issues have been brushed under the carpet, which has lead to the abuse of the environment that is now telling on the health of the citizens. While Punjab and Punjabis have every reason to be proud of these schoolchildren and their achievement, the state has shown a shocking lack of concern in environmental disasters like the Buddha Nala in Ludhiana and generally the poisoning of groundwater resources due to the misuse of pesticides and industrial pollutants. These children have shown the way. Others should now follow their lead.

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Thought for the day

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. — Annie Dillard

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A Tribune Debate
Judges vs Judges
Make the Constitution a living reality
by Harish Salve

The debate on judicial activism has been raging with varying intensity over the past few years, and has acquired a new life as it were, by the observations in a recent judgment of the Supreme Court. The underlying message of the critics deserves to be articulated plainly – that two courageous judges of the Supreme Court have candidly admitted that they were doing something horribly wrong and now its time the courts limited themselves to the role of a dispute resolution tribunal, leaving the politicians and the civil servants to deal with the woes of the people. The judgment, if read carefully, says nothing of the sort.

Is judicial activism — to wit — entertaining PILs that seek redress against executive (and at time political) apathy a deviant from the constitutionally ascribed role of the court? Is the power of judicial review into such apathy too dangerous to be left to these judges, who should now stick to deciding civil suits, tax appeals, criminal cases and the like?

Indisputably on occasion the High Court and (at least once or twice) the Supreme Court may have crossed the line — these are errors. If the court should stop entertaining PILs because they have erred on occasion, then Parliament and state legislatures should stop making laws because they too have made some laws that were unconstitutional (Parliament affirmed the phoney emergency only to humour Mrs Gandhi — yet continues to enjoy all its powers).

The governors should not appoint chief ministers because of the way in which some governors have abused this power, the President should not dismiss state governments for the manner in which this power has been misused, and most of all the powers of the ministers taken away for reasons far too many to count. If institutions were denuded of their powers for their follies, democratic government may as well be wound up.

The constitution confers the powers to issue writs upon both the High Courts and the Supreme Court (in the latter case only to enforce fundamental rights), without any express limitations upon its exercise. The courts have evolved rules of self restraint, to respect the separation of powers, and to bring order and discipline into the exercise of this vast power.

One archaic rule, that the court would entertain a petition only to vindicate a private wrong (i.e. to give relief to a person directly affected) was cast away in its country of origin when the English courts entertained a petition by Mr Blackburn who sought an enforcement of the laws against pornography in Soho. If the English judges could entertain a “PIL” why should Indian judges lag behind.

Another rule was that the court would not “interfere” with executive or legislative functions –in the old days, judges expressed helplessness in dealing with executive apathy. But where fundamental rights of citizens are at stake, the modern judge considers it his duty to issue appropriate directions to the executive to do their job as mandated by the law and the constitution, without fear and without favor. The rule of non-interference has been relaxed but only in those areas where the matter can be resolved by “judicially manageable standards”.

Where sensitive constitutional rights suffer for want of legislative measures (e.g. the rights of women to gender justice, rights of students) the courts have issued directions that formulate a code of conduct pending framing of rules — all these have been rooted in Art. 21 — the right to life and liberty, or article 14 — the right to equality.

The classical writ of mandamus is a direction to carry out a statutory duty- and that writ was issued to enforce environment laws made by Parliament to protect the air, the water, the wildlife, flora and fauna, and the forests.

The courts do not decide policy, but if enforcement of fundamental (or other legal rights) require the executive or Parliament taking such policy decisions, the court acts as a catalyst — it nudges the decision making process. These broad lines may have been crossed on occasion — but the task is so enormous, a few errors en route are inevitable.

The shrill debate has been sparked by the steadfast refusal of the court to yield to political and populist compulsions (latest example is the reservation issue): The instances of the court crossing the line is a convenient stick to beat them with. The court has also taken upon itself to enforce transparency(from hawala to fodder scam). It is this that upsets the political class, trying to survive in a fractured polity where the politics of coalitions calls for incessant compromises.

The sealing case is a good example. The sorry state of the capital is a tribute to lack of governance, a system in which outdated town planning laws were selectively enforced against those who could not “afford” to violate them, while those who had the “resources” could violate the law with impunity — undoubtedly for a price. The order of the court left the government looking red faced and forced a rethink on planning — and quickly at that! Reasonable laws and fair enforcement would displace a corrupt regime. The court spoiled a nice party.

In a working democracy, there should no occasion for the court to deal with such issues. If the High Court has to deal with nursery admissions, it is because the government (who is supposed to oversee education) did nothing to address the trauma caused to little children by the “interview” — which they were ready to condemn in court!

If the court has to give directions to reform the police system, it is because the political system refused to implement the reforms recommended by one police commission after the other for the principal reason that it would dilute the control of the politician over the police force. Scratch an order of the court, and underlying it you will find a sorry story of bad governance.

There is today a serious imbalance upon the institutions, and the public expectation from the judiciary is scary. If the situation is not repaired, a day will come when the people will feel let down by the judiciary — the judges can only do so much, they cannot and believe me — will not — run the government.

Other institutions of governance have to be rebuilt if democracy has to survive — until such time as that happens, the judges will have to soldier on to make the constitution a living reality for the common man — in such measure as they can. PILs must go on for the present, the controversy and criticism notwithstanding.n

The writer is a senior advocate, the Supreme Court of India.

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A royal prison indeed
by Trilochan Singh Trewn

Sweden is considered to be an ideal welfare state with the country’s total population not exceeding that of Greater Delhi. It is also one of the highest taxed states. This enables the government to extend liberal welfare benefits to its citizens. Keeping this in mind we made up our mind to visit one of Swedish prisons to know how the country treats its prisoners.

A Royal Prison is located near an elevated residential area of Taby, a suburb of Stockholm. It is surrounded by small beautiful lakes. We decided to visit the place one Sunday morning during pre-Christmas winter. Driving towards Taby’s main square we noticed a number of persons playing with ducks in a small lake. Parked on the curb was a Volvo sedan with two kids at the back holding festive balloons. In the front seat was a formally dressed young lady and a dark suited young gentleman. We stopped.

I came out of the car and advanced towards the parked car. I wished him as the gentleman came out of his car. I asked him about exact directions leading to the Royal prison. He immediately responded by indicating his name as Silvinson with his family proceeding for a 10-day holiday.

He was curious to know our purpose of visiting a prison on a Sunday morning. We politely stated that we had heard a lot of pleasant things about visible public welfare in Sweden and we thought that we may as well see glimpses of welfare measures in prison which are normally not in public gaze.

At this his wife too came out of car. Both of them looked at each other and smiled at us. He held my hand in his hand came closer and said: “Well, friends I am one of the prisoners hailing from the same prison and now proceeding on a 10-day Christmas holiday fully paid by prison authorities.”

I was stunned to hear this but did not let him know our reaction. He added that with most inmates away during Christmas holidays, prison was almost empty. He, therefore, noted our address and invited us for lunch in his prison cabin after the Christmas holidays. He trusted that this would meet our requirements.

During early January we were in his cabin inside the prison. He and prison warden welcomed us. His cabin was well furnished with radio, television, telephone and computer facilities. Lunch included chicken curry, roasted turkey, salad leaves, mixed vegetables, boiled lobsters, wheat bread rolls, grilled fish with white sauce, fruit salad with custard as well as white wine. Not to mentioned delicious sponge cake with almond topping which completed the prison lunch.

We returned after two hours in the prison and had nothing more to learn or ask. Equally impressive were medical facilities provided on the spot around the clock with a full-time cardiologist.

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Castro hints he may quit
by David Usborne

He has ruled his communist isle in the Caribbean for almost five decades, but this week the people of Cuba are waking up to a new reality: the possibility that Fidel Castro, already laid low for 16 months by serious stomach surgery, may at last be preparing to voluntarily relinquish his leadership role.

In remarks that could herald a new turning point for the country, President Castro, who turned 81 in August, indicated that he did not intend to “cling to positions” or “obstruct the path of younger people”.

Castro temporarily transferred power to his younger brother, Raul, the Defence Minister, after falling ill in July 2006. He has not been seen in public since then but has made various taped appearances this year, designed in part to quell rumours that his illness had brought him to the brink of death.

The leader whose communist revolution toppled the government of Fulgencio Batista in 1959 has attempted to remain relevant with weekly newspaper columns and commentaries on the direction of the government under Raul, and on world affairs.

Cuba’s next leader?

Raul Castro, 76
Younger brother of Fidel and Cuban Defence Minister. He was given temporary control in July 2006 after Fidel fell ill.

Felipe Perez Roque, 42
Foreign Minister since 1999 and Castro’s protégé. Served as President’s chief of staff.

Carlos Lage, 56
Vice-President who has served as Castro’s main economic adviser since the fall of the Soviet Union

Richard Alarcon, 70
President of the National Assembly. He joined Castro’s revolution at 18.

His favourite theme in these often rambling essays has been to denounce his ideological nemesis, the United States, and its leader, George Bush. Indeed, Monday’s instalment was largely about the climate change talks that have just ended in Bali and the isolation there of the American delegation.

But it ended with something different – his first public acknowledgement since falling ill that the time may be approaching when he should consider formally stepping aside and giving up the party posts that make him the last surviving world leader from the Cold War era.

“My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, or even less to obstruct the path of younger people, but to share experiences and ideas whose modest worth comes from the exceptional era in which I lived,” Castro wrote.

Despite his continuing incapacitation and the passing of day-to-day government to his brother, Castro officially remains the President of Cuba’s Council of State, which makes him the head of government and state. He also remains First Secretary of the ruling Communist Party.

The timing of his remarks is important as Cuba prepares for a nationwide election next month to choose the 614 members of the National Assembly, which must then elect before 5 March members of the Council of State. Only members of the National Assembly can serve on the ruling Council of State.

Castro was recently nominated once again to run for the National Assembly, a development that spurred speculation that he meant to retain the country’s leadership. But his remarks this week now suggest that even if elected to the Assembly, he will decline to stand for the Council of State.

As usual, however, his true intentions remain opaque. Even as he referred to his possible withdrawal, Castro paid tribute to the noted Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who just turned 100. “I think, like Niemeyer, you have to be of consequence until the end,” he wrote, suggesting, at least, that he intends to retain in an advisory role to whatever new leadership might emerge. There was hope among dissidents 16 months ago that Castro’s illness was the dawn of reform and a return to democracy in Cuba. But, in spite of Raul’s reputation for a more practical approach to governing and running the economy, not much has changed.

It may no longer be that Raul would automatically be the beneficiary of Fidel’s official retirement. His reference to “younger people” on Monday suggests, instead, that Castro may be looking beyond his brother to other prominent figures in the party of slightly lesser years. They might include his Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, who is 42, or 56-year-old Carlos Lage, his Vice-President.

Cuba-watchers n and the country’s own citizens n may have to wait a few more months before these questions are answered. But Castro seems to want, at least, to give his people time to adjust to a future in which he will no longer loom so large. “We are ready, but we don’t know what will come,” said Ana Rosa Hernandez, a cinema usher in Havana. “We expect good things, nothing bad, we hope.”

By arrangement with The Independent

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News analysis
Musharraf vs civil society
by Wilson John

Some recent decisions by President Pervez Musharraf, after quitting as the Chief of Army Staff, clearly point to his attempts to consolidate power as a civilian head of the government before the new civilian dispensation takes shape in Islamabad next month.

This could pit him, in the near future, against a possible civilian protest movement launched by the legal community and even the new leadership in the Army which would be more keen to get out of the limelight, lick it wounds and consolidate its power and hold as an institution.

Early this month, Musharraf brought in an amendment to his previous order to shift the responsibility of lifting emergency to the office of the President from that of the Chief of Army Staff. Emergency was proclaimed by Musharraf as the Army Chief. It was a significant decision to divest the office of the Chief of Army Staff from political decisions, a luxury which he enjoyed, and used to the hilt to protect his hold over the country.

A few days ago, he formulated another amendment to make the President as head of the National Command Authority, the statutory body responsible for the development and use of nuclear weapons. It was the Army Chief who had the final say on matters of nuclear development and deployment. General Aslam Beg, for instance, had refused to brief the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on the nuclear weapons status.

There are reports that he even refused her permission to visit Kahuta Research Laboratory. It is also known that Musharraf, as the Army Chief during the 1999 Kargil conflict had threatened to use the nuclear option. For the past eight years, it was Musharraf who controlled the nuclear button but has denied the new chief, General Kiyani, this power.

The latest instance is the amendment to the Constitution made on December 14 (Friday) prior to lifting of emergency a day later. The amendment underlines two key concerns of Musharraf. First, he has protected himself from any legal wrangles in the future. Clause 3 of the Constitution (Second Amendment) Order 2007 states that no court of the land, be it the Sharia court or the Supreme Court, will have the powers to question the decisions taken as part and under the amended Constitution. This is obviously a straightforward way to prevent the kind of litigation Musharraf had to face, and, in some ways, forced him to give up his ‘second skin’.

The second, and no less, important point is the strengthening of Musharraf’s hold over judiciary. The new provisions foreclose all chances for the reinstatement of sacked judges, including former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary. Musharraf had sacked Chaudhary and a handful of other judges when it became apparent that the Supreme Court was going to pass strictures against him and strip him of all his powers, including the uniform.

Chaudhary since then has been under house arrest and has been facing intense pressure from Musharraf to take a holiday in Saudi Arabia or go on Haj. The amendment forbids those who had not taken the oath of office under the Oath of Office (Judges) Order, 2007, a new law which accompanied the judicial sacking and emergency. There are other provisions which keep the judiciary firmly under the military thumb.

These measures are bound to stoke dissensions in the civil society, particularly among the legal community which has been in the forefront of the campaign, though confined largely to Punjab and that too in urban centres, to oust Musharraf. Going by sporadic protests the lawyers manage to hold despite emergency and blanket ban on the media show the resilience of the community.

This could spill out into the streets with the lifting of emergency and the installation of a new government in Islamabad. The sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary cannot be kept confined to house arrest for long nor can be the lawyer who defended him in the court, Aitzaz Ahsan, who is also incidentally a firebrand leader of Benazir Bhutto’s PPP.

Ahsan had refused to join the Central Superior Services despite topping the examination because of the military (Ayub Khan) rule. Both Iftikhar Chaudhary and Ahsan are viewed by Musharraf as two major thorns on his side he can do without. He knows both can propel enough momentum on the streets against him, especially when he is out of the uniform now.

It is almost a foregone conclusion that the January 8 elections are going to witness massive rigging-some pre-poll attempts are already being made. Bhutto, for instance, has alleged that the intelligence agencies were busy manipulating gullible candidates to defect from her party. This could be to offset the desertions faced by the King’s Party, PML-Q, especially in Punjab.

Musharraf’s political managers, the Chaudhary brothers (Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi) have been running the party in such a callous and high-handed manner that several senior leaders have either jumped the boat or waiting for an opportune moment. This could certainly jeopardise Musharraf’s plans to hoist PML-Q as the lead player in the new coalition in Islamabad.

Together, the electoral manipulations and the attempts to subjugate judiciary can be quite incendiary, sparking intensive protests which are bound to be reflected by a critical media, both in and outside Pakistan.

If such a wave of protest prolongs beyond a period, it could force General Kiyani and his new set of Corps Commanders to do some fast thinking on whether Musharraf has become a liability for the force since all of Musharraf’s omissions and commissions would fall in the lap of the Army.

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Europe: A continent without borders
by Christian Retzlaff and Kim Murphy

BERLIN — Europe edged a step closer to full integration Friday with the removal of many of the region’s last internal border posts, a move that will entrust the European Union’s nine newest members with policing its eastern frontiers.

With a series of ceremonies across the continent, the nine countries on the EU’s eastern edge which joined the union in 2004 will now take primary responsibility for screening many arrivals. European residents will be able to traverse most of the continent by road or sea without showing a passport or national ID card.

The expansion across most of Europe of the so-called “Schengen zone,” is a move toward the long-held goal of many European leaders of a borderless Europe.

“I can define this as an historic event. Now, after the enlargement in 2004 we are granting European citizens from the new nine member states new freedom of movement, without controls, without showing passports,” Franco Frattini, EU commissioner for freedom, justice and security, said in a telephone interview.

“European citizens will be able to go from Lisbon to Tallinn without showing passports, and that is in itself a very great achievement: It is one of the pillars of European citizenship,” he said.

In the first few minutes of Friday, the free-travel area expanded to 24 countries with the addition of Estonia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, bringing a total of 400 million Europeans into the border-free zone.

Britain and Ireland, two EU members that opted out of the “Schengen zone,” say they prefer to keep control of their own borders.

While citizens from those nine new countries have already been able to freely enter any EU country, the new regime ends often-lengthy delays at the borders and makes it easier for non-EU citizens to travel freely across Europe.

“Krakow, Prague and Budapest have come closer,” Berlin’s Tagesspiegel declared Thursday. “But mainly: The Iron Curtain has finally fallen.”

The move has caused unease in some countries, where there is skepticism that the new border states, primarily Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, are up to providing Europe’s front line of defense against illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, smuggling and terrorism.

“For us, the opening of the border comes too soon,” said Josef Scheuring, a spokesman for Germany’s border police officers within the police trade union in the Brandenburg border region.

The state of Brandenburg shares a 120-mile border with Poland, and nearly 400 police officers there marched in a Nov. 22 demonstration against the new regime.

Scheuring said the number of border officers in the state will be reduced from 1,600 to 800, though there is not yet full communications integration with the Polish border guards.

“We contend that the border police should stay with its full staff in the border region until we have secured analysis about the potential increase in crimes,” Scheuring said. There already has been a significant increase in drug trafficking along the border, even with German border stations fully staffed, he said.

“Mayors of border towns are concerned that gangs will cross the border without being checked, commit crimes in eastern Germany and then vanish back,” Sebastian Edathy, head of the German parliament’s committee for internal affairs, told the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Nations in the Schengen zone have access to a computerized network that alerts them when someone has been refused entrance. A major new upgrade of the system is scheduled to be completed next year.

Officials in the nine new member states say they have completed a rigorous, $1.4 billion upgrade of their border controls that includes new fencing, patrol vehicles, computer systems, personnel and training.

Andrzej Gras, an adviser in Poland’s office for European integration, said his country received a positive report in a recent international evaluation of controls on its eastern border.

“Some of the members of the committee said the Polish eastern border is better secured now than the German border was when the Schengen system started in Germany 12 years ago,” Gras said.

But with the new free travel provisions, he said, all countries of the EU will have to remain vigilant to enforce their own regulations on employment. The new provisions do not remove individual nations’ controls on who may live and work within their borders. While EU citizens may freely travel to other members of the union, they generally may not stay longer than 90 days without obtaining a residence or work permit.

By arrangement with LA Times-Washington Post

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