Vienna, Dec 22, SPA -- Celebrations for the enlargement of the Schengenzone to nine further countries continued on Saturday at the Austro-Hungarian border, reported dpa. At the Hegyeshalom-Nickelsdorf border station EU CommissionPresident Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed the new Schengen members. "We have great expectations that the united Europe will work. Peace, freedom and democracy are important," Barroso said. Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyucsany remembered the historicalimportance of the Austro-Hungarian border, where the Iron Curtainmarked the continent's division. Friday's official Schengen enlargement extends the EU's freetravel zone to more than 400 million people 24 countries, abolishingborders to many former communist states 17 years after the fall ofthe Iron Curtain. "Freedom and democracy have to be preserved. Hungary is ready toprotect Europe and keep it secure, because freedom also meansresponsibility," Gyurcsany said. The ceremony was also attended by current EU President JoseSocrates of Portugal, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico andAustria's Interior Minister Guenther Platter, who reiteratedAustria's position that free travel must go hand in hand with thebest security possible. "The opening of the borders is an end to the division of Europe. This is a big day for Austria, for all new Schengen member states,and especially for Europe," Platter said. The first Schengen agreement was signed in 1985 and includedAustria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy,Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portgual, Spain abd Sweden, as well asnon-EU members Iceland and Norway. The enlargement triggered fears among the population in Austriaand Germany of rising crime rates after the end of border checks,leading to demands for increased security and police presence.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/511465