domingo, 24 de janeiro de 2016

German push for extension of Schengen border controls


German push for extension of Schengen border controls

Move comes as Austria demands Greece is suspended from the free-travel zone.

By HANS VON DER BURCHARD 1/23/16, 4:54 PM CET Updated 1/23/16, 5:42 PM CET

A group of northern European Union countries led by Germany wants to keep border controls within the Schengen free-travel zone in place for many more months amid a continuing influx of migrants.

Germany, which saw the arrival of over 1 million asylum-seekers last year, introduced checks at its land border with Austria in September but these are due to expire in May. Austria, France, Denmark, Sweden and Norway also introduced temporary border controls in 2015.


Five countries – Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden as well as Germany – want to prolong temporary border checks for a further 18 months, the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported.

“We support Germany’s aim to extend border controls in the Schengen area for a further period of up to 18 months,” a spokesperson from the Austrian interior ministry told POLITICO. The extension will be discussed at Monday’s meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers in Amsterdam, the spokesperson added.

A Swedish diplomat said his country supports the plan “in principle.”

If the plan is supported at the ministers’ Monday meeting, the Commission will need to reassess Schengen rules to make it possible to extend border controls for a maximum of two years. The Luxembourg presidency, which was in office until the Dutch took over in January, had already put forward a proposal to make this possible. A final decision could be taken at the next summit of heads of government in February.

The push comes as Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner threatened to temporarily suspend Greece’s membership in the Schengen zone if the country does not better control the EU’s external border with Turkey.

“If the government in Athens does not finally do more to secure the external borders, then we must discuss openly the temporary suspension of Greece from the Schengen Area,” she told Welt am Sonntag.

Almost 37,000 migrants reached Europe by sea in the first three weeks of the year, of which the biggest number – around 36,000 – took the Eastern Mediterranean route from Turkey to Greece, the International Organization for Migration said Friday. The number of migrants reaching Italy and Greece was around ten times higher than in the same period last year, according to the organization.

“It’s a myth that the Greek-Turkish border can’t be controlled,” Mikl-Leitner said. The Greek navy is one of the strongest in Europe, she added, and with civilian supervision could be used to control and register incoming migrants.

Winter temperatures and harsh winds are currently making sea crossings particularly difficult. So far this year, 113 people have died in the Aegean Sea, the International Organization for Migration said.

The number of refugees could quickly rise when the weather improves in late March or April, William Spindler, a UNHCR spokesperson, told POLITICO.

“So far this year we have already seen a big increase,” he said. “There is a big rush of people trying to come to Europe now, as they are afraid that more countries will seal their borders.”


Jacopo Barigazzi contributed to this report.

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