TALLINN - The accession of Estonia and other new EU member states to the Schengen visa area could be delayed by a minimum of six months, the daily Eesti Paevaleht reported.
The delay is caused by problems with setting up the second-generation information system, the paper stated.
"The information system was planned to be ready by March 2007, but as things stand we can now say it definitely will not be completed by that time," spokeswoman for the European Commission's representation in Estonia, Marit Ruuda, said.
Experts call the Strasbourg, France-based Schengen information system a "key compensation mechanism," which should make up for the diminished domestic security of each state joining the Schengen area.
