Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary ... Perhaps, recently these countries can be considered one of the most popular. Tourists from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus with great pleasure go on vacation there. And this is far from accidental. These states willingly open visas to our citizens, requesting a very modest package of documents, and a lot of attractions, as a rule, appeal to everyone, even the most capricious travelers.
By the way, in the old days, in a purely practical sense, for example, the border of the Czech Republic and Slovakia was always considered one of the simplest, there were almost no traffic jams, and the staff was distinguished by amazing politeness and a high level of professionalism. In Hungary, there was always a sympathetic attitude towards young travelers, special attention was paid to married couples, sometimes they were even missed without much screening and queuing.
What has changed now? Will not those who traveled in this place 10, or even 15 years ago, be disappointed?
Let's try to figure it out.
Slovakia - Czech Republic. General information on state cordons
First of all, we note that the line dividing the two modern countries has a length of 796 km.
The border in its modern form, in which you can see it now, exists not so long ago, from the beginning of the 90s.
If we delve into history, we can recall that this date marks the collapse of Czechoslovakia into two independent states. Until 1993, i.e. before the Czech Republic and Slovakia were divided, this mark on the political map of the world was part of the Polish-Czechoslovak border.
Border crossings
According to data obtained for 2007, the border for that period was already divided into 117 so-called
border crossings, 107 of which were road sections and included tourist and freight transport points, and another 10 were railway.
Since the Czech Republic and Poland signed the Schengen Agreement, from December 21, 2007 absolutely all border crossings had to be abolished and now it is possible to cross the so-called border “Slovakia - Czech Republic” anywhere. There are no problems, let alone troubles. Although, as practice shows, for vehicles with Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian license plates in this place, most often the documents are checked by employees of the local road service.
The location of the geopolitical object
Such quite large, by European standards, of course, states such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia are perfectly visible on the map. They can easily be found even by an ordinary student of the 7th or 8th grade.
But far from every adult can enumerate local voivodships, especially since the names are considered difficult enough to remember and pronounce.
So, the voivodeships such as Lower Silesia, Opole and Silesia border on the Czech Republic. In turn, Poland has common borders with the Hradec Králové, Liberec, Moravian-Silesian, Olomouc and Pardubice regions.
History of education
For the first time, the border “Slovakia - Czech Republic” appeared after the Polish tribes united with the subordination of Moravia to the princes of the Czech Republic. This event occurred in the ninth century, far from us. The sanction, issued at the beginning of the XVIII century, according to which all Czech lands were included in the structure of Austria-Hungary, abolished this cordon.
However, in 1918, when the independence of Poland and Czechoslovakia was fully restored, the border reappeared and existed until 1939, after which, in connection with the proclamation of Slovakia as an independent country, a border was created between Poland and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which lasted until the outbreak of World War II . It disappeared because the Soviet-German agreement on the borders established in the occupied territory of Poland was signed.
In 1958, a cordon between the countries was again created and territories were exchanged as part of border adjustment. In particular, Poland transferred 1205.9 ha to Czechoslovakia, and 837.46 ha to Czechoslovakia to Poland. This fact led both countries to the so-called “border debt”, which amounted to 368 hectares. The Czech-Polish Border Commission has been regulating this debt since 1992.
Three years ago, Czech radio broadcast a message that the Czech Ministry of Internal Affairs wants to give Poland 365 hectares of territory located in the Liberec Region and on the so-called Friedlant Peninsula, between Swieradów-Zdrój and Bogatynia. The day after this announcement, Polish Minister Jerzy Miller publicly stated that such a correction of the borders had nothing to do with border debt, but only with the administrative procedures that needed to be carried out as a result of changes in river valleys.
Opinions of residents of border areas
Residents believe that today the difference between the two countries is almost imperceptible. The lifestyle of these countries is almost the same, and the buildings are made in the same styles. Therefore, getting used to a foreign culture is not necessary.
However, a few years ago, the region, which lay near the border “Slovakia - Czech Republic,” suffered enormously from unemployment. In particular, the Czechs themselves found it difficult to find a job there, which, of course, was not good.
Now, after the accession of both countries to the European Union, this problem has disappeared.
The nuances of crossing the border. Are they there?
Due to the Schengen agreement between the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic, crossing the cordon does not cause any difficulties.
Unless border guards from Poland and Serbia can stop a car or even a bus and check documents, as well as search, which will take at least an hour.
But for the most part, crossing the border is calm and quick.