• People walk past a shop that seels cigarettes that are cheaper than in Germany near the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    People walk past a shop that seels cigarettes that are cheaper than in Germany near the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • A marker indicates the official border line on the Germany side of the border with Poland as the Oder River and Poland are visible behind in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    A marker indicates the official border line on the Germany side of the border with Poland as the Oder River and Poland are visible behind in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • People with bicycles and traffic arrive in Poland as they cross the bridge that connects the Polish town of Slubice and the German city of Frankfurt an der Oder at the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    People with bicycles and traffic arrive in Poland as they cross the bridge that connects the Polish town of Slubice and the German city of Frankfurt an der Oder at the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • People walk across the bridge that connects the Polish town of Slubice and the German city of Frankfurt. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    People walk across the bridge that connects the Polish town of Slubice and the German city of Frankfurt. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • Cars, many of them with Germans who will shop for cigarettes, groceries and other everyday items in Poland, drive from Frankfurt in Germany across a bridge over the Oder River into the town of Slubice at the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    Cars, many of them with Germans who will shop for cigarettes, groceries and other everyday items in Poland, drive from Frankfurt in Germany across a bridge over the Oder River into the town of Slubice at the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • A man fishes in the Oder River near the bridge that connects the Polish town of Slubice and the German city of Frankfurt. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    A man fishes in the Oder River near the bridge that connects the Polish town of Slubice and the German city of Frankfurt. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • Visitors shop for cigarettes and other items that are cheaper than in Germany at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    Visitors shop for cigarettes and other items that are cheaper than in Germany at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • German visitors shop for cigarettes and other items that are cheaper than in Germany at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    German visitors shop for cigarettes and other items that are cheaper than in Germany at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • German visitors shop for cigarettes that are cheaper than in Germany at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    German visitors shop for cigarettes that are cheaper than in Germany at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • A woman waits for shoppers at a stand selling perfume and cosmetics at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    A woman waits for shoppers at a stand selling perfume and cosmetics at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • Shops offering currency exchange, cigarettes and other services line a street near the German-Polish border in Slubice, Poland. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    Shops offering currency exchange, cigarettes and other services line a street near the German-Polish border in Slubice, Poland. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • Visitors shop for cigarettes and other items that are cheaper than in Germany at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border in Slubice, Poland. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    Visitors shop for cigarettes and other items that are cheaper than in Germany at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border in Slubice, Poland. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
  • German visitors shop for textiles and shoes that are cheaper than in Germany at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border in Slubice, Poland. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
    German visitors shop for textiles and shoes that are cheaper than in Germany at an outdoor market near the German-Polish border in Slubice, Poland. Sean Gallup / Getty Images

Business

In pictures: A decade since the European Union went east

Liz Claus

April 19, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

May 1 will mark 10 years since the European Union expanded east, taking in countries like Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states as new members. And though the border region between Germany and Poland is flourishing with trade and cultural exchange, the open border has also brought a sharp rise in crime, especially car theft, in communities in Germany close to Poland.

EUGermanyPolandEconomy