Border controls - Greece

Ahead of today's council of home affairs ministers, a group of 7 member states has presented a set of demands on the issue of immigration in Greece (1). The proposals include, among others, the possibility for EU member states to reintroduce border controls with Greece. The Greens have hit out at the demands, with Green migration spokesperson Ska Keller stating:

"This 'package' completely misses the point on how to deal with asylum challenges facing EU member states.

"Immigration at Greece's borders is not a 'Greek problem' but a wider European question. The proposal to reintroduce border controls with Greece would be an absolutely senseless response that would completely undermine the European nature of the issue and the need for a coherent EU-wide response. It would also give a further kick in the teeth to the Schengen system, which remains one of the most successful EU policies.

"The perpetual narcissistic focus on border controls will do little to reduce the numbers of migrants seeking refuge in Europe. Instead of beefing up border controls, the EU should be addressing the reasons why migrants are forced to migrate and focusing on improving the piecemeal asylum and immigration systems in the EU. We need to finally introduce a common asylum system and those member states that are seeking to block and dismantle proposals to this end should end their obstructionist approach."