Croatia Adopts Euro, Joins Schengen: What Are the Pros and Cons? | DW News

Jan 1, 2023 | Croatia has dropped its currency the kuna to adopt the European common currency, the euro. The Balkan nation becomes the 20th member of the eurozone. Croatia had to meet strict economic conditions to join. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Zagreb to mark the occasion. Croatia also became the 27th member of the passport-free Schengen zone, which allows more than 400 million people to move freely through its borders.

Rumänien ruft Botschafter in Österreich zurück

Die österreichische Europaministerin Karoline Edtstadler verteidigt die Entscheidung ihrer Regierung. | Bild: DPA
WEGEN SCHENGEN-VETO
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Nachdem Wien den rumänischen Schengen-Beitritt mit einem Veto blockiert hat, protestiert Bukarest scharf. Es gibt in Rumänien sogar Aufrufe, österreichische Produkte zu boykottieren.

Rumänien hat am Freitag seinen Botschafter in Wien zu Konsultationen auf unbestimmte Zeit zurückgerufen. Zu diesem unter EU-Partnern ungewöhnlich scharfen Mittel hat die Regierung in Bukarest ausdrücklich als „politische Geste“ gegriffen, um die Kritik am österreichischen Veto gegen den Schengen-Beitritt Rumäniens und Bulgariens auszudrücken. Die österreichische Europaministerin Karoline Edtstadler wies die Kritik zurück: Das Veto richte sich nicht gegen die beiden Mitgliedstaaten, sondern „gegen ein System, das derzeit nicht funktioniert".

Kritisch äußerte sich allerdings auch der österreichische Bundespräsident Alexander Van der Bellen. Er bedaure „außerordentlich“ das Veto Österreichs, das Wien gemeinsam mit den Niederlanden auf dem EU-Innenministerrat eingelegt hatte. Österreich befinde sich wegen des Zustroms von Flüchtlingen und Migranten zwar in einer äußerst schwierigen Situation, äußerte Van der Bellen am Freitag. „Aber die Verbindung, die Verknüpfung dieses Problems mit dem Schengen-Beitritt Rumäniens und Bulgariens, muss ich leider gestehen, die sehe ich nicht", sagte er. » | Von Stephan Löwenstein, Wien | Freitag, 9. Dezember 2022

La Roumanie exaspérée par les réticences à son entrée dans l’espace Schengen

LE MONDE : Les Pays-Bas et l’Autriche, premiers investisseurs dans le pays, mènent la résistance contre son accès à l’espace européen de libre circulation.

Le président roumain Klaus Iohannis, lors d’une visite à Vilnius, en Lituanie, le 24 novembre 2022. MINDAUGAS KULBIS / AP
Les supermarchés de l’enseigne Mega Image ont poussé comme des champignons dans les rues de Bucarest. Contrôlée par le groupe néerlandais Ahold et la société belge Delhaize, la chaîne compte un millier de magasins en Roumanie, mais cette success story commerciale est désormais confrontée à une campagne de boycott. Les réseaux sociaux abondent d’appels invitant les Roumains à refuser d’acheter les produits en provenance des Pays-Bas. « Gouda, maasdam, edam, je n’achète plus ces fromages, déclare George Dinca, professeur de mathématiques, qui fait ses courses à Mega Image. Je supprime tous les produits néerlandais de ma liste d’achats. » » | Par Mirel Bran (Bucarest, correspondant) | vendredi 25 novembre 2022

Article réservé aux abonnés

Das Duell: Schengen und Flüchtlingskrise | Norbert Hofer | Alexander Van der Bellen

Greece: 'Do Not Come to Europe,' EU's Tusk Tells Economic Migrants

Merkel: "Es geht um verringern oder reduzieren" | 13.12.2015 | Bericht aus Berlin

"Wir wollen spürbar die Zahl der Menschen reduzieren, die zu uns kommen", sagt Bundeskanzlerin Merkel kurz vor Beginn des CDU-Parteitages. Das Wort "Obergrenze" taucht nicht im Leitantrag auf. Die Flüchtlingskrise nennt sie die "komplexeste Frage" ihrer Kanzlerschaft.

Schengen Crumbles: EU 'to Bring Back Borders and Passport Checks between Countries'

EXPRESS: BORDER checks could be reimposed between European Union countries under proposals expected to be put to ministers in Brussels today.

The proposal to suspend the 26-country Schengen passport-free travel zone is driven by the crisis of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and other countries to Europe via Greece and Italy this year.

The mass arrivals have sparked fears about the wisdom of letting people move freely around key EU countries with no document checks after inadequate initial assessments of their origins and motives for being in Europe.

Suspending Schengen - which the UK has never been part of - is the most drastic emergency measure its members can consider. » | Alison Little | Friday, December 4, 2015

Collapse of 'Comatose' Schengen Will Wreck Euro, Admits Jean-Claude Juncker

Jean-Claude Juncker

THE TELEGRAPH: Jean-Claude Juncker issues bleakest assessment yet of state of Schengen free-travel zone

The Schengen zone is “partially comatose”, Jean-Claude Juncker conceded on Wednesday, as he warned that its collapse would take down the eurozone.

The single currency cannot survive if the free movement of people granted by the passport-free travel zone ends, the president of the European Commission said, in the starkest warning yet.

Mr Juncker could only watch this summer after state after state reintroduced border controls in a desperate attempt to halt the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants. The Paris terrorist attacks led France to announce indefinite border checks.

"We have to safeguard the spirit behind Schengen,” Mr Juncker told the European Parliament. “Yes, the Schengen system is partially comatose.” » | Matthew Holehouse, Brussels | Wednesday, November 25, 2015

‘Mini Schengen’? 5 European Countries Seek Stricter Border Control

European leaders are now in Brussels to discuss tighter border controls....It's likely they'll be eager to introduce more radical security measures in light of recent terror attacks. In the context of the severe terrorist crisis, we want provisions made to strengthen border controls. This should include the considerable reinforcement of the EU's external borders.

Interview: ‘All the Terrorists Are Migrants’

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on the balcony of his office
at the Hungarian Parliament, November 19.

POLITICO: Viktor Orbán on how to protect Europe from terror, save Schengen, and get along with Putin’s Russia.

BUDAPEST — “Of course it’s not accepted, but the factual point is that all the terrorists are basically migrants,” says Viktor Orbán. “The question is when they migrated to the European Union.”

In his office at the Hungarian parliament, the prime minister points toward the flowing Danube. In another era, an aide notes, the Turks followed this river into the heart of Europe. Behind Orbán hang two maps: One shows a short stretch of Hungary’s border with Croatia and another gives a panoramic view of the Balkans toward Turkey, from where hundreds of thousands of migrants have made their way north this year.

In a wide-ranging 90-minute interview a week after the Paris terrorist attacks, Orbán lays out his prescriptions for Europe’s ailments: An impenetrable external border to boost security and save the Schengen treaty on passport-less travel within the EU; a new EU constitutional convention that strengthens the power of nation states and weakens Brussels; and normalized relations with Russia.

Thinking of Paris and its aftermath, the Hungarian leader posits an “overwhelming logical” connection between terrorism and the movement of Muslims into Europe — in the last few months as well as over recent decades — that to him and many Europeans is “an obvious fact,” whether “you like it or not.”

“The majority of our leaders in the West deny the fact,” he adds. That denial of the “obvious” — which the Hungarian leader blames on political correctness run amok — destabilizes European politics by increasing “the gap between the leaders and the people.” Read on and comment » | Matthew Kaminski | Monday, November 23, 2015

How Stupid and Dangerous Is This? Paris Attacks: EU Chiefs Defy French Demands for Border Controls on Jihadist Fighters

THE TELEGRAPH: EU chiefs signal they resist French demands for changes to Schengen border code, to ensure every traveller is checked against anti-terror watchlist

The European Commission has indicated it will resist attempts by France to tighten EU border security, after it emerged that foreign fighters have as little as a one per cent chance of being caught when returning from overseas.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU Commissioner for migration, insisted that no change is necessary to the current border code that says EU passport holders should be subject to the “minimum checks” when they enter Europe from the Middle East or elsewhere.

The Paris attacks and the apparent ease with which terrorists moved to and from Syria and then from Belgium into France with weapons in their cars, has raised serious questions about the viability of the Schengen system – questions dismissed by Mr Avramopoulos. » | Matthew Holehouse, in Brussels, and Peter Foster, Europe Editor | Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Europe's 'Porous Borders' Increase Terror Risk, Head of Metropolitan Police Says

THE TELEGRAPH: Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe says Europe has a 'problem' as he criticises the Schengen agreement and warns that terrorists could pose as migrants

Europe's "porous" borders mean that terrorists could be able to "hide" among migrants coming from Syria, the head of the Metropolitan Police has warned as he criticised the Schengen agreement.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said that in the wake of the Paris terror attacks Europe has a significant "problem" because it has "millions of people wandering through" but only "limited control over the borders".

Asked if he is a fan of the Schengen agreement on open borders, he wants "good strong borders" to ensure that the police and security services can properly assess the risk people pose.

He told LBC Radio: "If you've got porous borders and you've got migrants coming through there's a risk that terrorists are hidden amongst them or people who become terrorists get hidden amongst them. (+ video) » | Steven Swinford, Deputy Political Editor, video source LBC | Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Réfugiés : pour Hollande, Schengen est en danger

LE POINT: Pour le président de la République, il est très difficile d'imposer aux pays de l'Union européenne les mécanismes de répartition des réfugiés.

François Hollande a mis en garde jeudi contre les "dangers" qui menaceraient l'espace Schengen si un accord n'était pas trouvé en Europe sur l'accueil des réfugiés du Moyen-Orient, dans un entretien accordé à l'Agence France-Presse. Comme on lui demandait si l'espace Schengen de libre circulation était en danger, le chef de l'État a répondu : "Oui, s'il n'y a pas le mécanisme des centres d'enregistrement pour distinguer les réfugiés des migrants économiques et assurer la répartition des bénéficiaires du droit d'asile."

"Schengen serait en danger s'il n'y avait plus de contrôle des frontières extérieures" de l'Union européenne, a insisté le chef de l'État. Dans cette hypothèse, "les États vont rétablir d'une façon ou d'une autre des frontières nationales", a-t-il relevé. Selon lui, "on serait alors obligé de rétablir des postes de douane, de contrôle, également dans les moyens de transport, et ce serait la fin de Schengen au sens d'un espace contrôlé qui assurait la liberté de circulation". » | Le Point.fr | jeudi 17 septembre 2015

Inside Story: Can the Schengen Treaty Survive?

More refugees are stranded after Germany backtracked on open border policy

Réfugiés : pour Marine Le Pen, «l'Allemagne s'écrase sur le mur de la réalité»

LE FIGARO: LE SCAN POLITIQUE - Après la décision de Berlin de rétablir les contrôles aux frontières avec l'Autriche, la présidente du FN demande la fermeture des frontières avec l'Allemagne. Bernard Cazeneuve appelle pour sa part «au respect scrupuleux» des règles de Schengen.

Elle a réagi au quart de tour. À peine l'Allemagne avait-elle annoncé le rétablissement des contrôles aux frontières avec l'Autriche que Marine Le Pen dégainait son communiqué. «Après avoir totalement ouvert ses portes aux migrants pour de basses raisons économiques, voyant dans cette masse humaine un réservoir de travailleurs à bas coût, l'Allemagne est soudainement rattrapée par la réalité de sa folie migratoire», assure la présidente du FN. «Par suivisme et idéologie, le gouvernement français s'est mis, lui, dans la pire des situations, acceptant de faire peser sur les Français la charge des migrants que l'Allemagne a fait venir en Europe, et que finalement elle ne souhaite plus aussi largement recevoir» ajoute-t-elle. Marine Le Pen réclame la suspension dans l'urgence des accords de Schengen en France «pour éviter que le trop-plein de clandestins dont elle ne veut plus ne vienne chez nous». » | Par Le Scan politique | lundi 14 septembre 2015

German Border Controls Mark Sudden Shift in Refugee Policy

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Germany announces emergency border protections after weeks of leading Europe's response to the migrant crisis

Germany’s announcement on Sunday that it was instituting emergency border protections marks a sudden shift in its response to the refugee crisis.

Chancellor Angela Merkel was hailed as a saviour after her government said last month it expected to take in 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers this year alone.

Germany also became the EU first country to suspend the so-called Dublin protocol, which mandates that refugees seek asylum in the first European country they enter, by declaring last month that all Syrian refugees could remain in Germany regardless of the country through which they entered.

That decision was taken in light of the harsh treatment of asylum seekers in Hungary, which plans to complete a four-metre-high fence along its border with Serbia this week. » | David Lawler | Sunday, September 13, 2015

Refugee Crisis: Germany Reinstates Controls at Austrian Border

THE GUARDIAN: Train traffic from Austria halted as EU prepares for refugee showdown in Brussels on Monday

Germany introduced border controls on Sunday, and dramatically halted all train traffic with Austria, after the country’s regions said they could no longer cope with the overwhelming number of refugees entering the country.

Interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, announced the measures after German officials said record numbers of refugees, most of them from Syria, had stretched the system to breaking point. “This step has become necessary,” he told a press conference in Berlin, adding it would cause disruption.

Asylum seekers must understand “they cannot chose the states where they are seeking protection,” he told reporters.

All trains between Austria and Bavaria, the principal conduit through which 450,000 refugees have arrived in Germany this year, ceased at 5pm Berlin time. Only EU citizens and others with valid documents would be allowed to pass through Germany’s borders, de Maizière said.

The decision means that Germany has effectively exited temporarily from the Schengen system. It is likely to lead to chaotic scenes on the Austrian-German border, as tens of thousands of refugees try to enter Germany by any means possible and set up camp next to it. (+ video) » | Luke Harding in Berlin | Sunday, September 13, 2015

We Can't Cope with This Tide! Europe's Despairing Leaders Bring Back Border Controls with Free-movement Zone on Brink of Collapse

Biblical: Thousands of migrants emerge from the hold of a
ferry onto the streets of Greece's capital, Athens

DAILY MAIL: Berlin has sought to criticise EU countries for not taking enough migrants / It has now asked Italy to tighten controls on Austrian border to ease flow Figures show record 104,460 asylum seekers came to Germany last month / Slovakia’s foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak said Schengen Agreement had fallen apart

Europe's migrant crisis escalated last night as border controls were reintroduced and Germany admitted it could no longer cope with the influx.

Berlin had sought to criticise others – including Britain – for not taking in enough refugees after it announced it would no longer deport those coming from Syria.

But the EU’s passport-free travel zone was on the brink of collapse after Germany was forced to ask Italy to tighten border controls.

As tensions between European leaders unable to agree on how to handle the crisis simmered, Slovakia’s foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak said the Schengen Agreement removing border checks between 26 European countries has fallen apart.

Last night, as the numbers crossing into Germany reached nearly 150 per hour, it asked Italy to impose identification checks at Brennero, on the border with Austria, to ease the flow. An unprecedented surge of migrants has been trying to get to the country after Berlin last week began accepting asylum claims from Syrian refugees regardless of where they entered the EU. » | John Stevens for The Daily Mail | Thursday, September 3, 2015

EU Blamed for Migrant Chaos: Europe’s Border Crisis Is Totally Out of Control

EXPRESS: EU chiefs were condemned yesterday for causing the escalating migrant crisis now engulfing Europe as their dream of open borders turned into a “shambolic” nightmare.

As thousands of rail passengers were stranded or delayed by migrants clambering aboard Eurostar trains in Calais, authorities across southern Europe struggled to stem the invasion of desperate refugees.

On another day of high drama in the summer-long migrant crisis 3,000 migrants desperate to reach Germany protested around the main railway station in Hungary’s capital Budapest, shutting the terminal for a second day and threatening to bring more havoc.

In Greece 6,200 migrants were taken by three ferries from two overwhelmed islands to the mainland.

And tourists in the Turkish resort of Bodrum were horrified when the bodies of several migrants - including two small children - washed up on the shore after their tiny boat capsized as they made the perilous 13-mile crossing from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos. » | Anil Dawar and John Ingham | Thursday, September 3, 2015

Europe's Pillar Collapsing? Freedom of Movement under Pressure in Сharlie Hebdo Aftermath