Greece avoids Schengen exit

A threat to throw Greece out of the border-free Schengen area of the EU was diverted at the last minute when Athens agreed to request help to manage refugees at their borders.

A proposal to allow Schengen states — which do not include Ireland or Britain — to extend border closures from a maximum six months under current rules to two years was discussed by justice ministers in Brussels.

This is a response not just to the refugee influx which has prompted several countries to close their borders, but has become more urgent following the Paris attacks and reports that some of the suspects crossed borders unimpeded.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said she believed it was a possibility that Schengen countries would take the step towards closing their borders on a more permanent basis, but this would require member states to ask the commission to examine the matter and come up with a proposal.

“We are seeing, obviously, a number of countries who are taking much more restrictive border regimes and it may well be examined at this point,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

EU leaders will discuss the issue at their summit in two weeks, along with drawing up a list of countries to which rejected asylum seekers and others could be returned safely.

The threat to Greece, and to the future of the border-free zone, has been considerably lessened with Athens activating the EU civil protection mechanism and agreeing to request Frontex, the EU border police force which is made up of officers provided on a voluntary basis by member states.

Under the civil protection mechanism, Greece will now receive material support to help cope with the refugees — more than 50,000 arrived in the country last month alone. While most simply pass through, many are expected to stay in Greece because of the cold weather and Macedonia partly closing its borders with Greece.

The commission’s Emergency Response Co-ordination Centre is working with Greek authorities and other countries to deliver tents, electricity generators, beds, sanitary equipment, and first aid kits, with 85% of the cost being paid by the commission.

Greece also agreed a plan with Frontex for a new operation at its border with Macedonia. As many as 11,000 migrants a day have crossed over into a transit camp where they are transported to the Serbian border.

There are virtually no facilities for the authorities there to register those passing through, most of them being bussed from the port of Pireas having been brought from the islands they arrived on from Turkey.