And as that happens the burden of controlling or managing borders will shift in accordance with the waves of new members. So, yes, it will create new dividing lines in one sense, but what has happened is that the dividing lines have been moved rather than new ones created. Implementing strict immigration and border control has become especially important during the past half year since the enforcing of the EU Amsterdam Treaty. That treaty moved the issues of visas, immigration, and asylum from the inter-governmental level, where it had had little effect, to the community level. The EU is currently monitoring candidate countries and produces annual reports detailing their progress in managing their borders.
Some countries have greater border problems than others.
The Czech Republic, analysts say, has some of the worst problems. More people were caught trying to illegally cross the Czech borders last year, than the borders of most other candidate countries put together. Some analysts say this is because the Czech Republic is a more desirable destination in itself than, say Bulgaria or Romania. The EU membership candidate states will probably have to implement border controls similar to those in the EU's Schengen agreement, which provides for passport-free travel. But Denis Nihill, director of the International Organization for Migration center in Vienna, says it is unlikely that Brussels will seek to force the central and eastern European states to impose visa requirements on their eastern neighbors.