European Union warns Greece over border controls

BRUSSELS (AP) – A European Union investigation found major flaws in Greece’s border management that could pave the way for other EU nations to isolate Athens and introduce long-term ID checks to restrict the entry of migrants further into the continent.

The assessment found failures to register, check and fingerprint migrants arriving in November. Greece will then have three months to correct the deficiencies and comply with the Schengen rules.

According to the report’s findings, Athens is likely to be given three months to improve, after which neighbouring Schengen states could be advised to reintroduce temporary border controls.

The Commission is determined to preserve its key Schengen agreement.

But electoral pressure on governments, including in the EU’s leading power Germany, to stem the flow and resist efforts to spread asylum seekers across the bloc are making free-travel rules untenable.

Figures released by the International Organisation for Migration show that more than 45,000 people – an average of 1,730 a day – have made the perilous journey so far this month, despite the harsh winter weather and unsafe conditions.

Passport-free travel and hassle-free business in Europe has never been in more danger.

Earlier on Wednesday, EU Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said that Greece had to deal with “serious deficiencies in the carrying out of external border controls”. “We need a solution within weeks … if not, we can expect conflicts between countries”, he said.

Sobotka said it was even a question whether Greece had “given up” on its duties.

Otherwise, border checks to limit the movement of migrants within Europe may be instituted.

Migrants sit on a bench in Victoria Square in central Athens, Greece, January 27, 2016.

Already six Schengen members have reintroduced controls since a year ago in Germany, Austria, France, Sweden, Denmark and the non-EU member Norway.

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel told an audience on Tuesday: “Of course we must significantly reduce the number of refugees and we are working on that”. But the influx of people is not expected to slow. And the timing is crucial.

The move is part of a process in which European Union governments aim to give them the option of reinstalling controls on their national borders for up to two years, once short-term derogations now in place expire in May.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR is looking for adequate facilities that can be converted to shelters in the short term, initially to house 20 000, the report said, quoting the agency’s Greek representative, Petros Mastakas, following a meeting with mayors in northern Greece.

Athens says the influx is impossible to control and its migration minister, Yannis Mouzalas, warned this week that sealing his country off from Schengen would create a humanitarian crisis with thousands of people trapped in Greece.

“It’s not easy to trap [asylum seekers] and we do not intend to become a cemetery of souls”, Mr Mouzalas told the Financial Times (behind paywall).

“The Greeks must suffer the consequences”, said Belgian secretary of state for asylum and migration, Theo Francken.

Greece has been the gateway into Europe for many migrants fleeing Syria and other countries.