EU to extend Schengen border controls for three months
The European Union's executive recommended on Wednesday extending emergency border controls inside what would normally be the bloc's zone of free travel that collapsed amid an influx of refugees and migrants, and feuds over how to handle them.
Under the proposal, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Norway - not a member of the EU but part of the free-travel Schengen zone - could extend their current border controls for another three months from their current expiry in mid-February. The EU Commission specially mentioned Greece, which still has some 60,000 refugees and migrants.
Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos insisted that the Schengen area -- one of the EU's proudest achievement and a cornerstone of its principle of freedom of movement -- would get back to normal. "These controls cannot go on forever and they will not go on forever," Avramopoulos told reporters in Brussels, adding that the extension was a "last resort".
"We currently have temporary border controls in place. These are exceptional measures for an exceptional situation," the bloc's migration commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos said.
More than a million refugees - mainly fleeing the war in Syria - and migrants arrived in Europe in 2015. While the number fades compared to the bloc's 500 million people, it triggered bitter disputes between EU states over how to provide for them.
The bloc has since been constantly tightening its border controls and toughening its stance on granting asylum. Only some 360,000 people made it to Europe last year after a deal with Turkey that cut to a trickle the number of arrivals in Greece.
The key route to Europe now leads from the coast of lawless Libya to Italy. It has been used mostly by labour migrants from Africa seeking a better living in the wealthy Europe.
The EU is determined to curb these flows as well and is increasingly offering money and other assistance to African countries of origin and transit to prevent people from embarking for Europe.
The current measures were imposed in November and are due to lapse in mid-February.
Brussels had earlier said it wanted to restore full functioning with no border controls across the Schengen area -- which includes 22 EU countries as well as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein -- by the end of 2016. The EU's 28 member states must formally approve the extension.
Under the proposal, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Norway - not a member of the EU but part of the free-travel Schengen zone - could extend their current border controls for another three months from their current expiry in mid-February. The EU Commission specially mentioned Greece, which still has some 60,000 refugees and migrants.
Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos insisted that the Schengen area -- one of the EU's proudest achievement and a cornerstone of its principle of freedom of movement -- would get back to normal. "These controls cannot go on forever and they will not go on forever," Avramopoulos told reporters in Brussels, adding that the extension was a "last resort".
"We currently have temporary border controls in place. These are exceptional measures for an exceptional situation," the bloc's migration commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos said.
More than a million refugees - mainly fleeing the war in Syria - and migrants arrived in Europe in 2015. While the number fades compared to the bloc's 500 million people, it triggered bitter disputes between EU states over how to provide for them.
The bloc has since been constantly tightening its border controls and toughening its stance on granting asylum. Only some 360,000 people made it to Europe last year after a deal with Turkey that cut to a trickle the number of arrivals in Greece.
The key route to Europe now leads from the coast of lawless Libya to Italy. It has been used mostly by labour migrants from Africa seeking a better living in the wealthy Europe.
The EU is determined to curb these flows as well and is increasingly offering money and other assistance to African countries of origin and transit to prevent people from embarking for Europe.
The current measures were imposed in November and are due to lapse in mid-February.
Brussels had earlier said it wanted to restore full functioning with no border controls across the Schengen area -- which includes 22 EU countries as well as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein -- by the end of 2016. The EU's 28 member states must formally approve the extension.