40 years of Schengen – celebrating freedom of movement where the Iron Curtain once stood
The first and only pan-European movement celebrates and moves the EU forward. Not through marketing slogans, but through everyday cooperation.
Last weekend, together with colleagues from Volt Austria and Volt Hungary, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Schengen Agreement symbolically - at the tri-border of Slovakia, Austria and Hungary, in the sculpture park near Čunovo, Rajka and Deutsch Jahrndorf. At the place where guarded borders stood until recently, we were reminded of all that freedom of movement brings us.
Even though the sun was scorching and there weren't many trees yet, the atmosphere was warm, open and European - there was Austrian guglhupf, Hungarian pogacsa, and Slovak treska. We discussed the future of Volt in Central Europe, cross-border cooperation and building better relations between our countries.
💬 Kristóf from Volt Hungary said it perfectly:
“In this place, we were once divided by the Iron Curtain, but today we can be together. We must cherish and protect it, because it was not easy to achieve.”
💬 Karoline Adam, co-chair of Volt Austria, added:
“We must celebrate the benefits that the EU brings us more often, and we must constantly remind ourselves that as Europeans, we can achieve much more than individual countries.”
We believe that the Schengen Picnic will become an annual tradition, and we will meet again at this place next year. Maybe with you too! 💜