Hungary expects to complete diplomatic tasks required for joining the common visa-free Schengen zone by the end of October, MTI News Agency reported Wednesday, quoting Foreign Ministry state secretary Marta Horvath Fekszi.
"We expect to complete all technical and professional preparations by the end of October, so that if there is a problem, there is still time to resolve it during the testing phase," Fekszi said.
Hungary is scheduled to join the Schengen zone, along with other central-eastern European states on Jan. 1, 2008 (overland borders) and March 29, 2008 (seaports and airports).
Seventy percent of the equipment for the adoption of the new system is already set up at embassies, and the work should be completed by mid-October, Fekszi said.
The integration of police and border guards into a joint force of 45,000 staff will come parallel to joining Schengen. The new force will undertake guarding the non-Schengen borders with Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia and Romania. Passport control will be abolished along the Austrian and Slovakian border from January next year.
Source: Xinhua
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