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Ian Brzezinski Senate Testimony on NATO: Chicago and Beyond
Ian Brzezinski, Atlantic Council senior fellow with the International Security Program, testified before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the upcoming NATO Summit in Chica
David Koranyi Pens Op-Ed in Hurriyet Daily News
David Koranyi, deputy director of the Council's Patriciu Eurasia Center, published a commentary piece in the Hurriyet Daily News entitled "Nabucco and the embattled Hungarian Prime Minister."
MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Features Fred Kempe and Awards Dinner
Atlantic Council President and CEO Fred Kempe appeared on msnbc's Morning Joe to discuss the recent French and Greek elections and their wider impact on Europe. The Atlantic Council's 2012 Awards Dinner was also featured in a segment on Prince Harry and his charity dedicated to helping wounded warriors.
Gerard Prunier Writes New York Times Op-Ed on Sudan and South Sudan
In “In Sudan, Give War a Chance,” an op-ed published in Saturday’s New York Times, Gérard Prunier, a senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, discusses the likelihood of war between South Sudan and Sudan as well as the growing conflict within Sudan between the Arab Islamist center and its black Muslim periphery.
REGISTER
Switzerland Opens Borders to Europe
James Joyner | December 12, 2008
Switzerland has opened its borders to Europe, Deutsche Welle reports:
For the 700,000 commuters who cross the borders between European Union countries and Switzerland every day, life got just a little bit easier on Friday. As clocks struck midnight, Switzerland officially joined the Schengen agreement, meaning passports will no longer be checked at the border crossings between the confederation and the rest of Europe.
[...]
For non-EU residents, the big difference will be that a Schengen visa will get them into Switzerland, and a Swiss visa will grant them access to the rest of Europe. Passengers on flights between Swiss airports and other Schengen-zone destinations, however, will continue to have to show their passports until March 29, to allow for airports to implement necessary changes.
[...]
Swiss officials said they joined the agreement largely to gain access to Schengen security information, granting them better knowledge about terrorism, criminal threats and asylum seekers. The system also allows them to share their intelligence with other members. Previously, Switzerland was considered as an island" by the criminals, Hans Arzethauser, a spokesman for the Swiss border security force, told AFP news agency.
[...]
Ironically, Switzerland will now have to put up a border crossing where it has not had one for decades, on the border with the tiny Principality of Liechtenstein. As the principality has no airport - except for a small heliport - and is landlocked between Austria and Switzerland, most people have no way in or out of the country without going through a Schengen country. Liechtenstein is tentatively set to join the agreement next year.
This is a rare case, indeed, of improved security coming along with increased freedom and convenience. It's amazing that it took Switzerland so long to get on board.
Photo by Flickr user 41Dodge under Creative Commons license.
