EU mulls sending its own forces to control national borders

Signaling a possible shift to a more coordinated approach to Europe’s refugee crisis, the European Commission is considering a German request to deploy EU border control officers when a member state cannot guard its national boundaries.

The request on Friday came after some EU members suggested removing Greece from the bloc’s Schengen system of open borders for delaying an acceptance of help to handle the historic flow of refugees from Syria and other countries.

"The Commission should put forward a proposal ... which has the goal of when a national state is not effectively fulfilling its duty of defending the external border, then that can be taken over by Frontex [the EU’s border-control agency]," said German Minister Thomas de Maiziere.

Both Greece and its non-EU neighbor, Macedonia, are struggling to cope with an influx this year of more than 500,000 refugees, most of who are fleeing violence in Syria, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Iraq. More than 50,000 refugees have arrived in Greece since Nov. 1 alone, the European Commission reported.

Overall, close to 900,000 refugees entered Europe so far this year, and more than 3,500 died while crossing the Mediterranean to get there, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Greece on Thursday agreed to accept EU help, and the European Commission is sending support to the Greek border with Macedonia. The border control officials, who should arrive next week, will assist with registering refugees, the Commission said. Another team will help patrol Greece’s border at the Aegean Sea, through which many refugees travel from Turkey onboard unsafe dinghies.

Austria applauded Greece’s acceptance of EU assistance.

"Greece is finally taking responsibility for guarding the external European border,” said Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner. “I have for months been demanding that Greece must recognize this responsibility and be ready to accept European help. This is an important step in the right direction.”

In addition to concerns about the Greek borders, some European leaders have expressed alarm about security in Hungary, after Hungarian officials said that Salah Abdelslam, the Paris fugitive who helped stage attacks that killed 130 people last month, was in Budapest shortly before the assault.

The Paris attacks prompted some officials to call for a more collective approach to shore up the bloc’s security policies, such as increasing information sharing between sovereign intelligence agencies and the establishing of a shared record of traveler names, a proposal that until now has been repeatedly denied by the European Parliament due to privacy concerns.

With Reuters