Schengen – Fortness Europe?

The aim of this study is to present the contemporary research of the Schengen area and to prove theoretically as well as empirically that the notion of Fortress Europe is only a misleading conception that the media may fi nd attractive, but which does not depict the reality fully. The reason is, that he concept of a fortress evokes a contrast between the inside and the outside. Nevertheless, the empirical data show that the binary oppositions like ´inside – outside´, ´security – free movement´ or ´EU citizens – third country citizens´ are simplifi ed. Firstly, the paper focuses on the Schengen area itself. Secondly, the contemporary research in the fi eld of the Schengen co-operation is presented. Thirdly, the study aims at the analysis of the current situation and links it to the context of the contemporary research. It presents quantitative as well as qualitative data. This is the main contribution of the paper since the current development is not very well explored.