FRANCE follows Germany and reinstates border controls due to 'serious threats posed by terrorists and migratory flows' in latest blow to EU Schengen scheme
France is set to ramp up the intensity of border controls with European neighbours amid fears of uncontrolled migration and terror threats just weeks after Germany announced a similar policy.
French authorities informed the European Commission last week that its borders with six of its neighbouring Schengen members - namely Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland - will be reinforced with increased checks as of November 1.
The controls will be applied to travellers entering France via land, sea and air routes from all six nations.
A French government statement declared the checks were introduced due to 'serious threats to public policy, public order, and internal security posed by high-level terrorist activities... criminal networks facilitating irregular migration and smuggling, and migration flows that risk infiltration by radicalised individuals'.
German police stand guard at a border with France, as all German land borders are subject to random controls to protect internal security and reduce irregular migration
Officers detain a man on the German/French border in Kehl, western Germany
Police stand at a customs checkpoint at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, in the northern outskirts of Paris
Passengers passing through an exit at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport
Under the Schengen Agreement, 29 European countries agreed to abolish internal border controls with the goal of achieving freedom of movement throughout the continent.
Twenty-five of 27 EU member states are party to the agreement along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
However, the Schengen Borders Code does allow member states to introduce 'last-resort' temporary border checks if authorities believe that there is a serious threat to public order or internal security.
These temporary restrictions can last for up to six months, which is why French authorities named the expiry date of the upcoming measures as April 1, 2025.
But such checks can be extended if the threats are deemed to persist.
The move comes weeks after France's EU partner Germany introduced similar controls in September, citing a wave of Islamic extremist attacks and concerns over rampant migration.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser insisted at the time that the step would help 'put a stop to criminals and identify and stop Islamists at an early stage'.
But Austria said it would refuse to accept any migrants turned away at the shared border with Germany.
German government figures published shortly after the controls came into action offered shocking revelations.
In just five days after the reintroduction of border checks across all of Germany's borders, federal police detected almost 900 unauthorised entries.
Of those, 640 people were turned back, 17 extremists were identified, and 114 arrest warrants were executed.
In an interview with Germany's Focus magazine, Manuel Ostermann, deputy federal chairman of the Federal Police Union said: 'We are witnessing the efficiency of the federal police and, above all, we are once again seeing confirmation of the necessity of border controls.'
Those in favour of reintroducing the restrictions argued it was necessary to do so because the EU's external border controls had failed.
A German police officer with guard dog at a border with France, as all German land borders are subject to random controls
German police check people arriving from France at the German-French border
France's introduction of stricter controls also comes weeks after an EU scheme to impose new border controls on non-EU nationals was shelved indefinitely
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13991651/Now-FRANCE-follows-Germany-reinstates-border-controls-threats-posed-terrorists-migratory-flows-latest-blow-EU-Schengen-scheme.html
Netherlands follows Germany and France and becomes latest to announce tough new checks to reduce immigration numbers
The Netherlands are set to be the latest EU country to ramp up tough border controls to reduce immigration numbers after France and Germany announced similar measures.
The border controls could come into effect at the end of next month, Dutch broadcaster RTL reported on Wednesday, citing government sources.
The border checks are part of a broader clampdown on migration proposed by the Dutch conservative coalition, led by anti-Muslim nationalist Geert Wilders' PVV party.
Measures also include limiting asylum permits to a maximum of three years, and restricting possibilities for asylum seekers who are allowed to stay to reunite with family members, RTL said.
It comes after France announced last week that it would increase border checks from November following a similar move by neighbouring Germany which already suspended the freedom of the passport-free Schengen zone in September to tackle illegal immigration.
The tough new border checks to be introduced in the Netherlands are part of the coalition agreement the parties reached in July, following Wilders' resounding election victory almost a year ago.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13996223/EU-closes-borders-tackle-migration-Netherlands-follows-Germany-France-latest-announce-tough-new-checks-reduce-immigration-numbers.html
Germany brought in its plan to end unchecked illegal immigration to the country with enhanced border controls at all nine of its borders.
The coalition government hopes to show its seriousness about efforts to tackle irregular migration following a spate of Islamist attacks in recent months.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser insisted that the step would help 'put a stop to criminals and identify and stop Islamists at an early stage'.
Police at the German-Polish border control traffic as enhanced border checks are introduced
A string of Muslim terrorist attacks have shocked Germany, fuelling rising public anger.
A Muslim on a knife rampage killed three people and wounded eight more at a festival in the western city of Solingen.
The Syrian suspect, who has links to the Islamic State group, had been intended for deportation but managed to evade authorities.
The enforcement failure set off a bitter debate which marked the run-up to two regional polls in the formerly communist east, where the anti-immigration AfD scored unprecedented results.
Poland has also struggled with migration and accused Moscow of smuggling people from Africa and the Middle East into Europe by sending them through Belarus to the Polish border.
A police officer checks vehicles near the border with Belgium in Aachen
Police officers check a van at the Bunderneuland border crossing
Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban mocked the German chancellor on social media site X, writing: 'Bundeskanzler Scholz, welcome to the club! #StopMigration.'
Germany has taken in millions of asylum seekers, many of them Syrians.
The extra burden on municipal authorities and integration services in Germany needed to be 'taken into account' when talking about new border controls, Berlin's interior ministry said.
In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Friday unveiled the country's strictest migration policy yet, saying it will request an opt-out from EU common policy on asylum next week.
A four-party coalition dominated by conservative Geert Wilders's Freedom Party wants to declare an 'asylum crisis' to curb the influx of migrants through a tough set of rules including border controls.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13854605/germany-plan-migration-eu-borders-checks.html
German federal police watch over cars arriving at the German-Polish border
Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers, of the Sweden Democrats, told MailOnline that Europe faced challenges securing borders due to the 'madness' of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's policies.
'If we don't secure the external border then internal border controls will become the norm. I've said this for years.
'That a left-liberal German government re-institutes border checks highlights the madness of Merkel's policy and that the debate in Europe has shifted.
'Citizens want safety and security, not mass migration and chaos.'
A 26-year-old Syrian man, perpetrator of the Solingen attack, is escorted by police
The government has justified the strict border controls, claiming they contribute to 'the protection of internal security against the current threats of Islamist terrorism and cross-border crime' (Afghan migrant pictured in knife attack in Mannheim)
German migration commissioner Joachim Stamp claimed Russia and Belarus were intentionally pushing migrants into western Europe to destabilise Germany and its neighbours.
Poland shares the claim that Russia has weaponized migration, encouraging asylum seekers to cross over into central Europe with attempted illegal border crossings from Belarus on the rise.
ISIS released a photo of the militant who carried out a mass stabbing attack at a festival in Solingen and killed three people
Germany's police union had announced that participation in the Schengen agreement was making Germany's security crisis even worse and must be abandoned immediately.
Manuel Ostermann, deputy federal chairman of the Federal Police Union, had launched a fierce condemnation of Schengen, the EU's hair-brained border-free scheme, in an interview with Focus magazine.
'The crisis in Germany's security is a direct consequence of Schengen's ineffective policies. Schengen's inability to manage migration effectively has put Germany's safety at stake.'
'Germany must realise the current failure of Schengen and either make a concerted effort to return to the current legal situation or terminate Schengen,' Ostermann concluded, pointing to the rising crime rates in Germany which he said is exacerbated by the migration crisis.
He said Schengen's open borders have made it easier for criminals to operate across Europe, impacting Germany's safety.
'Schengen has failed to protect Germany from the influx of criminals, necessitating immediate action.'
'We must continue to improve security for our internal borders because border controls, whose effectiveness has been proven, are no longer maintained under Schengen.
'The failure of Schengen is evident in the increased crime rates, making it clear that changes are needed.'
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