Introduction of SIS smooth, future Schengen members say

The Schengen information system (SIS) has been introduced smoothly and according to the plan, Czech and Slovak interior ministers Ivan Langer and Robert Kalinak said on Friday after a meeting of representatives of the countries that are to join the Schengen border-free zone at the end of the year. None of the new member states reported any serious problems with the introduction of the SIS database and the Czech interior minister confirmed that the Czech Republic would be fully prepared to enter Schengen by December 31, 2007. Originally, the expansion of Schengen was to have been accompanied by the adoption of a new, second-generation police data base the so-called SIS II, but since it was not prepared in time, SIS I will continue to serve all Schengen members.