Eight new members from the eastern EU and from the Baltic region will become part of the Schengen Zone - Journal (english) 20.12.2007 18

As of midnight tonight - travelers within the European Union will be able to move from Tallinn in Estonia to Lisbon in Portugal - a distance of 4-thousand kilometers - without once having to show a passport. In just a few hours - eight new members from the eastern EU and from the Baltic region - plus Malta - will become part of the Schengen Zone. Passport controls will be dropped at rail and road crossings with the Baltic States, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. Airport checks will end in March. Bulgaria and Romania remain outside of Schengen. Switzerland is expected to become a member in late 2008.