Ceremony to commemorate Austria’s entry into Schengen
(ANSA) – BOLZANO, 01 APR – At the Brenner Pass for a quarter of a century, thanks to Schengen, there is no longer a border barrier.
Today the 25th anniversary was commemorated at the crossing by the governors Arno Kompatscher (South Tyrol) and Anton Mattle (Tyrol) and their predecessors Luis Durnwalder and Wendelin Weingartner.
“The Schengen agreement – Kompatscher recalled today – brought the province of Bolzano and Austria closer together again. On the road to European unification, the abolition of border controls was an important step for us. Thanks to our heterogeneity cultural and linguistic, we see ourselves as a bridge between the German-Austrian and Italian cultural and economic areas.The Euregio offers the appropriate framework for further expanding cooperation in this sense between the countries, creating a sort of small Europe within Europe “.
His predecessor Durnwalder then said: “It was important that Austria and South Tyrol never let themselves be divided despite this border barrier and found a new, modern form of cross-border cooperation with the foundation of the Euregio Tyrol -Alto Adige-Trentino. Even if the division of Tyrol will always remain an injustice, our gaze is oriented towards the future”.
“Especially at the Brenner Pass – added the Tyrolean captain Mattle – the unifying idea of Europe has become much more tangible and at the same time the demarcation lines have faded into the background”.
Weingartner also took the floor at the crossing: “When I removed the border barrier between Tyrol and South Tyrol with Luis Durnwalder, we managed to make the unfair Brenner border more invisible. For me it was a very heartfelt moment.
Tyrol and South Tyrol, together with Trentino, with a total of 1.8 million inhabitants, are much more tangible in a Europe rich in diversity”, he concluded.
For SVP secretary Philipp Achammer, the abolition of border controls “contribute to some extent to the healing of the wounds” of the past. (HANDLE).
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