On Schengen & Frontex
Some central European officials, most prominently Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, have suggested excluding Greece from Schengen. Diplomats and European Union officials say some governments have raised the possibility informally but it would be a largely symbolic move, with little impact on migration.
[The New York Times, Alastair MacDonald: “EU Presses Greece Over Migrants, Weighs Schengen Threat”]
We need to give more resources to help Greece face this immigration crisis. A country alone can not handle a continuous feed of refugees, especially when this country is made of multiple islands and fighting an administrative and financial crisis.
It becomes clear that European countries need to agree on letting Frontex fully manage by its own the borders of Schengen. One of the issues in this case is that by law, only Greek’s forces can patrol on its border and therefore any help from Frontex can not be used to protect Greece’s borders (and therefore EU’s borders).
“Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas welcomed Frontex assistance to register refugees but said that under Greek law, only Greek forces could patrol its border”
At the same time, Frontex needs to become a public organ of the European Union (right now it is semi-private) so the European Union can have the responsability of its actions. This is necessary to fix the lack of clarity in its actions and accountability.
We can not let each country manage their own borders and at the same time believe in Schengen. The force protecting the borders has to come from everyone. It is foolish to let countries that are closest to unstable areas do all the work of protecting the borders of the European Union. We’re an Union after all.
Could the United States isolate Nevada or Texas from the rest of the federation because of the Mexican illegal immigration? Or even pressure them to better take care of their border? No, because they’re acting as an Union and not an Association. Borders of the United States are secured by the Department of Homeland Security.
For Schengen to make sense, borders of the European Union should be secured solely by an European Union force. Neither a country’s force nor a semi-private organization such as Frontex.
