European Commissioner Hahn believes that 'the project will help residents of the West and East overcome psychological barriers that have persisted for a long period when there was a real Iron Curtain', get to know their neighbors better, smooth out differences in perception of many life circumstances and possible contradictions – after all, one cannot yet speak of complete mutual understanding on the European continent. Also known is the relatively modest amount that the European Union plans to allocate for the construction of the new 'Iron Curtain': 1.8 million euros. Not everywhere will construction have to start from scratch: the chosen route includes many already existing and marked bike paths, where only signs need to be installed informing cyclists that they are riding along the former 'Iron Curtain'.
The trans-European bike trail project presented by MEPs and commissioners begins at the Norwegian-Russian border near the Barents Sea. Along the Russian-Finnish border, the route should pass through St. Petersburg to the Baltic states – however, the question of whether the 'Iron Curtain' will affect the territory of the Russian Federation remains unclear, primarily due to the difficulties caused by the existing visa regime. Then the bike path through Poland and Germany (including the existing bike route along the former border that divided West and East Germany, with a possible detour to the places around and inside the German capital where the Berlin Wall stood) goes south and southeast towards the Czech Republic, Austria, and Slovakia.
Further, the 'Iron Curtain' will touch Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Macedonia, and Greece, and will end at the Bulgarian-Turkish border on the Black Sea, connecting many monuments, museums, and attractions that remind of the history of Europe's division. A cyclist wishing to cover the entire route of over 10,000 kilometers will need more than 30 days, if the traveler is ready to pedal at least 10 hours a day.
The European Cyclists Federation added the route to its register of trails back in 2013, but it was 2014 with its many anniversaries that became the right milestone for the official presentation of the initiative. This year marks the centenary of the start of World War I and the 75th anniversary of the start of World War II, a quarter century since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain itself, and a decade since the start of the EU's eastward enlargement. The new 'Iron Curtain' from Norway to the Black Sea has a rather contradictory name, but it probably suits the symbolic project of restoring European unity quite well.
Pyotr LEVSKY,
'Russkaya Germaniya'.