EU warned Schengen Area at risk of COLLAPSE as migrant crisis spirals out of control
The EU has been warned its Schengen open-border area is at risk of collapse, as a result of a growing number of countries re-imposing border checks
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As many as 11 EU countries have rebelled against EU policies on border checks in the face of growing concerns about illegal migration
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The EU has been warned its Schengen open-border area is at risk of collapse, as a result of a growing number of countries re-imposing border checks.
Speaking at a university debate in Ljubljana, Slovenian politician Tanja Fajon warned that the open-border system is "under serious threat".
She criticised the fact that countries such as Italy, Austria and Germany have reimposed border controls often for "domestic political reasons", instead of actual necessity.
Fajon added: "The situation is worsening … this is very dangerous."
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As many as 11 EU countries have rebelled against EU policies on border checks in the face of growing concerns about illegal migration.
Countries including France, Slovakia, Sweden and Germany have re-instated border restrictions including identity vetting, passport checks, police interviews, static checkpoints and vehicle inspections.
Such restrictions on movement were abandoned many years ago as part of the Schengen Treaty.
But they are now viewed by a number of countries as being essential to stop "infiltration" by terrorists posing as migrants.
Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister of Hungary, issued a warning to the EU over its migration policy.
He said: "If Brussels does not change its migration policy, we could find ourselves where we do not want to be: in an era of Europe torn apart by old borders."
This came after Italy escalated its own internal border checks with neighbouring Slovenia as part of an attempt to reduce the "increased threat of violence within the EU", which the country believes has escalated since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
Italy said the changes were necessary as a result of the growing risk of terrorists arriving due to "constant migratory pressure from land and sea".
In the wake of Italy's border checks, Slovenia did the same with its borders with Hungary and Croatia, claiming it faces the same issues as Italy.
Slovenia also claimed to be facing "threats to public order and internal security".
Meanwhile, Sweden has warned it is conducting checks at all its border points to combat terrorism.
Andrej Plenkovic, the prime minister of Croatia, backed the move by other European countries.
He said: "The EU is surrounded by a series of very big crises... bigger than any time in the past 30 years.
"We have Putin's aggression against Ukraine, Hamas's attack on Israel, all this in the context of intensified flows of illegal migration."
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The Croatian politician added: "Once the Hamas attack took place, Italy decided to reintroduce its EU internal border controls vis-a-vis Slovenia.
"Hence, Slovenia did the same within 24 hours vis-a-vis Hungary [and Croatia]."
Plenkovic called for the EU as a whole to go further in protecting its borders, saying border controls are a sign politicians care about their citizens.
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