EU moves closer to creation of border guard

Amid threats to expel Greece from the Schengen area, EU ministers moved a step closer to creating a border guard that could take control of national borders if a country was not up to the task.

Justice Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, confirmed that under no circumstance would Ireland be part of an EU border and coast guard, remaining outside the Schengen area and maintaining a travel-free zone with the UK.

The emphasis of the ministers with responsibility for migration was firmly on stopping the flow of migrants, most looking for asylum and mainly coming into Greece through Turkey.

However, more than 30,000 arrived into Greece by sea in the last three weeks, Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said, on top of the million that arrived in 2015.

The six countries that have imposed border controls want to extend them beyond the current six months, while a commission report on Greece due in February may trigger a procedure effectively isolating them from Schengen for up to two years.

A commission spokesperson said they were in unchartered waters however, as these steps had not been taken before.

However Dutch migration minister, Klass Dijkhoff, said the Schengen system was under pressure and the discussion about the first of a possible of four six-month exclusion for Greece, known as Article 26, “is a consequence of what is happening”.

@eucopresident #tusk states that #EU border guard is priority of Dutch presidency - agreement expected by June pic.twitter.com/AouWnLBgGu

— FTI Consulting EU (@FTIconsultingEU) January 19, 2016

This followed Sweden’s interior minister, Anders Ygeman, telling Reuters, “if a country doesn’t live up to its obligations, we will have to restrict its connections to the Schengen area”.

However, as the ministers told Greece they must do more to reduce the influx of migrants, Greek migration minister Yiannis Mouzalas, launched a broadside against the other member states for their failures to help the country so far.

He said that certain politicians were telling lies about Greece.

“The migration crisis in Europe is a European problem with Greece just the first part of the corridor to the EU”, he said.

He said that boats came from Turkey just 4km away in some cases and under EU, Greek and international law they must rescue them.