Scheng-end? Germany wants border control in free travel zone

Published time: April 05, 2012 10:24
Edited time: April 05, 2012 14:24
A Bulgarian border policeman leads his dog at the border between Bulgaria and Greece (Reuters / Nikolay Doychinov)

The EU’s cherished Schengen free movement agreement is now at stake with its largest member, Germany, calling for the re-introduction of border controls. Greece, which contributes 90 per cent of the bloc’s illegal immigrant inflow, is first in line.

­Germany is calling for EU member states to be able to temporarily ban neighbors who fail to effectively tackle the illegal immigration from the Schengen area.

Speaking to the national daily newspaper Rheinische Post, the country’s interior minister said that while the open-border Schengen zone “means a lot for European sentiments,” security should not be neglected.

The minister insisted that Germany must be able to temporarily control the internal borders in order to prevent the Schengen area from becoming an entry point for illegal migration.

Echoing his French counterpart Claude Guéant, Hans-Peter Friedrich mainly hinted at Greece.  

Athens has long been accused of being a major gateway of illegal immigration into the EU. Since last year, the number of those seeking asylum in Europe has increased dramatically due to the mass inflow from the countries affected by the Arab Spring.

EU countries have become increasingly critical of Greece's lax border controls, especially with Turkey. According to Greek police statistics, as much as 90 per cent of illegal immigrants in the EU enter the bloc via Greece’s territory.

In 2011, about 100,000 people were arrested for crossing the country’s borders illegally.

Athens has vowed to get a grip on the mass inflow and has recently announced it will open 30 detention centers on the mainland to house illegal immigrants before they are deported. The Ministry of Citizen Protection says each center will have space for about 1,000 people and serve as a holding point before detainees are sent back.

A team of EU experts is expected to visit the country in June to evaluate on the ground whether it has the right to be a member of the visa-free zone.

The EU immigration officials’ statistics has noted the months of the Arab Spring were marked with a 50 per cent rise in illegal immigration in the EU. It spearheaded the calls for re-introduction of border controls within the union.

In April 2011, France took the unprecedented move of restoring border controls with Italy after Rome granted temporary visas to thousands of African migrants. The move was latterly followed by Denmark, which set the customs check points on the borders with Germany and Sweden.

In his re-election bid for the presidency, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has recently threatened he would pull France out of the visa-free zone in an effort to tackle the thorny issue of illegal immigration.

Comments (30)

Christian (unregistered) 26.04.2012 19:24

shilka.maskirovka wrote in #17
There are EU nations that can coop with this and there are those that don't. Take Sweden for an instance, there are entire city blocks completely in the hands of armed gangs of outer European heritage. Indigenous people are pushed out from the areas, and the streets are in the hands of the bullies. This agreement is needed. No question about it. As some nations simply can't keep control over their own towns anymore. There are no jobs in Sweden, there is only poverty and alienation that ends up in criminality, despair and in the end complete and utterly anarchy. The grand experiment has failed, it is time to suck that fact up, and move ahead and do something about the growing problems instead of ignoring them and build up even more problem.

You are 100 % right im from Sweden and this country used to be a paradise now its looking like awful with crime-infested slums but to few realize the problem and vote for the 7 pro immigration, pro-EU parties so their is little hope of ever saving our beautiful country while people choose to ignore the problems so they can be politicaly correct.

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SIGN OF THE TIMES 23.04.2012 23:25

You ain't seen nothin' yet. It will soon be a rarity to have a passport for dissidents, aka terrorists. Owe taxes? No passport for you! Critical of the government? Too bad! Control is the new mantra for freedom-loving Western banksterocracies. Germany has long been preparing for the endgame. Goodbye EZ. Hello WAR.

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Daniil- 08.04.2012 21:07

- I see your point. But as you would also know, if the Euro collapses... Estonia isn't going to be immune from the impending economic doom...
Therefo re, brace yourself. You might think that life is good now but you cannot have it good for much longer if many of the EU nations are in huge debt. Remember, life in PIIGS was also good... until those debts had to be paid back.
I am aware of that. Same thing happened with the Ruble in 1991. An easy trick was to stock up on stuff before the money lost it's value and I think that's what the people will do right now as well. Hopefully it won't come to this.
And yes, PIIGS had a good time while they had it. But here the difference between North and South kicks in. PIGS (no Ireland) are all southern countries, their mentality is a bit different. Northerners are more serious with their finances, decisions. Not saying north is better (in a fear of a hate-wave), but just that in this situation north is safe from the mistakes that south has made. (Just look at Sweden, Finland, Denmark. Well, Denmark and Sweden aren't the best examples, since they have Krone, but I hope you get my point here)

- "That is the whole point of the article... Germany are looking for independence again. No control over its immigration, no control over its basic sovereignty, ... isn't in the makeup of the Germans who are among the most proactive and pragmatic people on the planet. They lead by example, they don't want to be lead."
It's not in German morality to be just independent. They want to be independent and lead the EU at the same time. Which they are already doing. I'm a Slavic person, and I've had a lot of relatives in the war, so I am rather vigilant of this "history repeats itself" thing, but I think this time it's different. 

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