VZCZCXRO4358
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHPG #0881/01 2081238
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271238Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9410
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000881 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/ERA, CA/FO 
 
E.O. 12958: 
TAGS: PGOV PREL CVIS EZ
SUBJECT: Czechs Ready to Join Schengen 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The Czech Republic is anxious and ready to 
implement the Schengen Agreement on January 1, 2008.  This is a high 
priority political issue that unites all political parties, as 
evidenced by the unanimous passage of the "Schengen Package" in 
Parliament May 2007 that brought domestic legislation into 
compliance with all Schengen regulations.  For Czechs, Schengen is 
one of the most tangible advantages of joining the EU, and without 
it, Czechs believe new EU member states are treated as second class 
citizens.  A recent poll found that 78% of Czechs regard the 
country's Schengen entry as an important gain in their EU 
membership.  Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek believes that Schengen 
entry is as momentous to Czech citizens as when Communism ended, 
saying "entering the Schengen area is an important step towards full 
membership in the EU."  The Czech Republic has successfully 
completed all interim Schengen evaluations and will face the final 
hurdle - an evaluation of its operation of the Schengen Information 
System (SIS) - in September 2007.  The GOCR is confident it will 
pass the SIS test and has unrolled plans for a US$1 million public 
education campaign.  However, despite intense internal preparatory 
efforts, external issues over which the GOCR has little control - 
resistance from Austria and mixed EU evaluations of neighboring 
Schengen-candidate countries - may threaten its accession to 
Schengen.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Czech Ministry of Interior International Relations Department 
Director Blanka Rybonova informed emboffs July 26 about preparations 
for the Czech Republic to join Schengen on January 1, 2008.  The 
Schengen Agreement, which the Czech Republic signed as part of its 
accession to the EU on May 1, 2004, abolishes national borders and 
standardizes border control between participating countries.  Before 
a country can implement the Schengen Agreement, it must meet four 
criteria: (1) security of external ground borders and maritime 
ports; (2) standardization in issuance and regulations of visas; (3) 
operation and maintenance of the Schengen Information System (SIS), 
a database of personal information used for law enforcement 
purposes; (4) security of their airports.  Currently, the Czech 
Republic is scheduled to lift ground border checks on December 31, 
2007 and airport checks on March 29, 2008. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Czech Republic has been negotiating with its neighbors 
on how to handle its ground borders.  Because the Czech Republic is 
completely surrounded by other EU-member states (Poland, Slovakia, 
Austria, and Germany), the EU never formally evaluated Czech border 
security (criteria 1).  However, since its neighbors Poland and 
Slovakia have external borders, the EU holds Czech accession to the 
Schengen area dependent on Poland and Slovakia's ability to secure 
their borders.  Consequently, the Czechs have been coordinating 
closely with their neighbors.  Austria presents another potential 
monkey wrench for Czech Schengen hopes.  Rybonova said that Austria, 
driven by domestic political concerns, is nervous about an enlarged 
Schengen, and asked all of its neighbors preparing to join Schengen 
(Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia) to lift their 
Austrian border control in stages.  All four countries rejected this 
idea. Instead, the Czech Republic is working on a bilateral 
Memorandum of Understanding outlining specific measures the Czech 
Republic will take to enhance security in the Austrian border area. 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) During its initial Schengen evaluation in 2006, the Czech 
Republic received poor marks for security problems at the Brno 
airport.  However, these problems have been fixed and the Czechs 
successfully passed the July 2007 Schengen evaluation.  The Czechs 
face one final test: in September 2007 they will be evaluated on 
their implementation of the SIS law enforcement database.  Rybonova 
believes the Czech Republic will pass this test as the GOCR has 
everything it needs to manage this system.  In anticipation of a 
successful entry into the Schengen area, the GOCR has announced it 
will spend CZK 25 million (over US $1 million) to educate people 
about the consequences of Czech Schengen entry. 
 
¶5. (SBU) As the clock ticks towards January 1, 2008, the Czech 
Republic faces three vulnerabilities that may block its Schengen 
accession.  First, a systematic vulnerability in SIS could delay 
Czech entry.  In July, after the SIS's software was updated to 
handle the upcoming expansion, press reported that nine current 
Schengen countries (Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Norway, 
Iceland, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands) failed the software's 
operational test.  These states are to be retested before the end of 
2007 to ensure the system's functionality.  However, if the updated 
SIS cannot function throughout all member states, Czech entry would 
be delayed until this software problem is solved.  Second, Austria 
may try and persuade other EU states that the new member states are 
not adequately prepared for Schengen.  Third, if Slovakia and Poland 
fail their Schengen evaluation, Czech entry into Schengen would be 
delayed until after it institutes an external border with these 
countries.  Accordingly to Rybonova, this last scenario is not 
likely since Poland and Slovakia have made significant strides to 
fulfill the Schengen evaluation criteria. 
 
 
PRAGUE 00000881  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: The Czechs believe that their entrance into the 
Schengen area will bring them one step closer to being full-fledged 
members of the EU. As such, their criticism of the U.S. visa waiver 
policy and "double standards" for old and new EU member states may 
intensify; the Czechs may in turn increase pressure within the EU to 
invoke the EU solidarity clause and visa reciprocity clause to 
pressure the US into introducing a single visa policy for all EU 
Schengen states.  That said, we expect that the successful passage 
of the 9/11 legislation now in Congress, which would modify the visa 
waiver policy in a manner that favors the Czech Republic, will make 
the Czechs less likely to press for a tougher EU stance.  However, 
while Czech entry into the Schengen would signify completion of 
basic border security, the Czechs still have not signed the EU Prum 
Convention, a new agreement to extend cross-border cooperation for 
combating terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal migration.  The 
EU has yet to decide whether to expand the Prum Convention to the 
new EU member states.