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| ‘If the Greek government doesn’t finally do more to secure the external borders, then we need to talk openly about Greece’s temporary suspension from the Schengen area.’—Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, speaking to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag |
European
Leaders Weigh Options to Halt Migration Flow
Greece
could face temporary exclusion from border-free Schengen zone in bid
to stem migrant influx
By VALENTINA POP
Jan. 24, 2016
BRUSSELS—European
governments are weighing options that could temporarily seal off
Greece from the border-free Schengen area and prolong border controls
for up to two years, in reaction to the migration crisis.
At a meeting on
Monday in Amsterdam, European Union interior ministers will discuss
steps that could be taken against Greece in the coming months
allowing for the extension of border checks within the 26-strong
border-free Schengen area, if all other measures to stem the influx
of migrants fail.
More than a million
refugees and migrants from countries such as Syria, Iraq and
Afghanistan arrived in Europe last year, mostly via Turkey and Greece
and then continued their journey through the Balkans to Austria,
Germany and the Nordic countries.
Security concerns
about the identity of some of the migrants have increased following
the revelation that at least two of the terrorists in the Paris
attacks on November last year traveled on the migrant route through
Greece and posed as Syrian refugees. A series of sexual assaults and
robberies carried out in several German cities on New Year’s Eve by
men of north-African or Middle Eastern origin, some of whom were
registered asylum seekers, have only added to those concerns.
In November last
year, EU governments piled pressure on Greece and floated the
prospect of suspending the country from Schengen if it doesn’t step
up registration for incoming migrants. They also insisted for EU
border patrols to be deployed both at Greece’s sea border with
Turkey and on land, at Greece’s northern border with Macedonia.
Greece did step up
registration and EU patrols were deployed, but to some EU
governments, notably Austria, the efforts are still insufficient.
On Saturday,
Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told German newspaper
Welt am Sonntag that “if the Greek government doesn’t finally do
more to secure the external borders, then we need to talk openly
about Greece’s temporary suspension from the Schengen area.”
‘If
the Greek government doesn’t finally do more to secure the external
borders, then we need to talk openly about Greece’s temporary
suspension from the Schengen area.’—Austrian Interior
Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, speaking to German newspaper Welt am
Sonntag
In the past few
months, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Slovenia have all put
in place border checks, in a bid to slow down the migration influx
within the Schengen area and better control who is entering their
territory.
But under current
rules, internal border checks can be kept only for a limited period.
The deadline for Austria and Germany, who were the first to introduce
border checks in September, runs out in May. The only way to extend
them for up to two years is if there is a systemic failure at one of
the bloc’s external borders, meaning in Greece.
If ministers agree
to go down that road, the European Commission, the bloc’s
executive, would need to publish a report in the coming two weeks
saying that Greece isn't properly guarding the borders, said one EU
official familiar with the talks.
Greece would then
have three months’ time to remedy the situation at its borders. If
by then, the migrant influx continues at the current pace and Greece
is still found in fault of guarding the borders, ministers would have
to approve the suspension of Greece and Germany and Austria could
continue their border checks beyond May, the official said.
A spokeswoman for
the German interior ministry said that since no reduction of the
refugee influx is foreseeable, the German government seeks to prolong
existing border controls in line with the Schengen rules. She said
border controls “are required to register refugees, send back those
who don’t qualify for asylum and to ensure public safety.”
Slovenian Prime
Minister Miro Cerar, whose country would become the first Schengen
country on the migrant trail if Greece were to be suspended, insists
on the need to secure Greece’s northern border with Macedonia—so
that migrants don’t cross through the Balkans in the first place.
In an open letter
sent to fellow EU leaders on Jan. 18, Mr. Cerar urged the EU to help
Macedonia with policemen, technical equipment and money to stop the
migrants at the border with Greece. By securing that border, Austria,
Germany, Denmark and Sweden would no longer need to put up border
checks and that the measure would also eliminate the risk of renewed
tensions in the Balkans, he said. His proposal will also be discussed
on Monday.
In November,
Macedonia erected a fence at its border with Greece and has since
filtered migrants by nationality, sending back to Greece anyone who
isn't Syrian, Iraqi or Afghan.
Greek Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras in the past months has repeatedly warned against
turning Greece into a massive refugee camp and insisted that the
problem lies in Turkey, not Greece.
EU leaders in
November struck a deal with Turkey and pledged to pay €3 billion
($3.2 billion) and offer visa-free travel for Turkish citizens, in
return for Turkey stemming the flow. But so far, arrivals have
remained at around 2,000 a day, according to the International
Organization for Migration. Three EU commissioners traveled to Turkey
on Sunday to renew pressure on Ankara to stick to its part of deal.
But their leverage is modest after Italy last week blocked the final
green light on where the €3 billion should come from, as it seeks
to get more money from the EU budget.
Another EU
initiative, a program to redistribute asylum seekers more evenly
across the bloc has also failed so far: Only 331 refugees have been
moved from Italy and Greece to other EU countries, out of the 160,000
that should be redistributed over two years.
Senior EU officials
in the past few days have warned that border-free travel may be
abolished across the bloc if the bloc doesn't manage to get a grip on
the migration crisis. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke of six to
eight weeks before the bloc will have to start thinking about a plan
B. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned of
catastrophic consequences for the European economy and even
questioned the rationale for the common currency, the euro, if
borders were to be put up again between European countries.
Write to Valentina
Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com
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