"This could spell the
end of the Schengen area
and thus reverse one of the most visible achievements of European
integration. The immediate consequence of Germany’s border controls will
probably be new bottlenecks downstream in the refugee trails—in
Austria, above all—and thus even more border closings. The second and
intended consequence, however, might be that the EU finally gets its act
together and adopts a new asylum regime," writes the
Economist.
"Schengen […] has
two massive weaknesses
that have never been properly tackled. First, it will only work if
Europe’s common external frontier is massively strengthened. But where
is this frontier? Often in countries least able to cope, running between
Greece and Turkey, Malta and Libya, Hungary and Serbia, Sicily (Italy)
and Tunisia. Only a paltry sum has been given to Frontex, the EU border
force, to boost patrols, stop drug smugglers and check migrants.
Secondly, the intelligence formerly gathered at frontier posts is never
now properly passed on. Countries have no way of tracking who is
entering or leaving unless police data is routinely made available. The
real weakness of Schengen, however, is that it runs counter to the
growing mood in Europe," writes Michael Binyon in
Politico EU.
"We should also be pushing
NATO to be more actively involved
in the crisis. The NATO roles include intelligence surveillance and
monitoring; humanitarian support to the refugee camps and the setting up
of holding areas; working with European intelligence agencies on a
serious vetting process for the refugee population; and search and
rescue at sea for the seaborne portion of the flow," writes James
Stavridis in
Foreign Affairs.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment