Brussels, December 21, SPA -- The Border controls along the old Iron Curtain from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic cease to exist from midnight Thursday as most of the European Union's former communist new members join the bloc's passport-free travel zone, the Associated Press reported. It's a major step in their transition from Soviet satellites to full-fledged EU members, but has also triggered fears of a flood of illegal immigrants that could stick Europe with a crisis similar to America's along its border with Mexico. The entry of nine nations into the EU's so-called Schengen area means citizens can travel by land or sea between 24 European nations from Portugal to Poland, Iceland to Estonia without facing border checks. The move has also forced the EU to tighten up controls on its new eastern borders to prevent infiltration by criminal gangs, illegal immigrants, and even terrorists.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/511210