(BRATISLAVA) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico symbolically cut a ribbon at Bratislava airport on Friday on the eve of the country's full entry into Europe's passport free Schengen zone.

"I am happy that today we definitely have Schengen and I hope in a short time it will also be getting the common European currency euro," Fico said referring to the Central European country's ambition to join the eurozone at the start of next year.

Fico's symbolic action at the gate for passengers arriving from 23 other Schengen zone countries actually came one day ahead of the official expansion of the travel simplifying measure to airports in the nine countries, including Slovakia, which became members in December.

Passport controls and other border checks at land borders were dropped amid a raft of celebrations and official ceremonies at the time.

Fico stressed that the dropping of border checks was especially significant for former communist states where "free travel, even to neighbouring countries, was not at all an obvious matter not long ago and, in many cases, was even impossible."

Bratislava, the country's biggest airport, together with the airport serving the country's second city, Kosice, and Poprad airport will officially join the Schengen zone at midnight on Saturday.

The airports have had to make sure that passengers from Schengen and non-Schengen countries are separated. In Bratislava's case, one terminal has been set aside for Schengen services.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek is due to mark the Schengen switch at Prague's airport, the busiest in Central and Eastern Europe with 12.4 million passengers handled last year, on Saturday morning.

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