EU newcomers split on whether lives have improved
Day in and out, Frantisek Danihel steers his ferry back and forth over the slow-moving Morava River, linking what were two separate worlds only a year ago - the European Union and its aspiring members.
On a formal level, the barriers dissolved on May 1, 2004, when Slovaks and nine other mostly former communist nations joined what they had long viewed as an exclusive Western club. Yet opinions are mixed among EU newcomers about how much they have gained from membership and what’s in store for the future.
