Abstract
In 1989, Hungary made history by opening the iron curtain and allowing the citizens of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to pass through the country to West Germany. These actions not only led to the fall of the iron curtain and the Berlin wall but these were also Hungary's first steps on its path to join the community of European states, where the right to free movement had a history of several decades. The right to free movement was seen as an economic tool to help tackle the problems of employment at the time of the creation of the European Community. It gradually became a more complex net of rights with the signing of the Schengen Agreement in the mid 1980s. Later, this right became the foundation for a common European citizenship. Today when Hungary and other former socialist states are full members of the EU and the Schengen area, a new question has emerged: can the right to free movement be seen as a human right?
