European ministers worried about the ongoing migrant crisis threatened Monday to close Greece’s access to Europe’s passport-free zone if the flood of migrants pouring across its borders continues uncontrolled.
More than a million migrants left the Middle East and North Africa last year and made for Europe, primarily by way of Greece. European leaders have criticized Greece for providing an open door to the passport-free Schengen zone in Europe to the migrants, in many cases with no questions asked.
Austria’s Interior Minister warned Greece that Europe will move the Schengen border deeper inland, if Greece doesn’t do a better job of controlling the migration, reported BBC News. Germany’s foreign minister criticized the threat, but Sweden’s interior minister sided with Austria.
“In the end, if a country doesn’t live up to its obligations, we will have to restrict its connections to the Schengen area,” Sweden’s interior minister, Anders Ygeman said, according to the Irish Times. “If you don’t have control of your borders, it will have consequences for the free movement.”
Greece has been criticized for failing to properly register the migrants, before allowing them to move on to other countries. The EU has given Greece some money to deal with the crisis, but, for example, only one of five “hot spot” registration centers that were supposed to be set up is running.
But Greece wants Europe to do more, blaming their inability to control the flow on a lack of real help from the rest of Europe and the sheer volume of migrants crossing their border. The crisis could result in the collapse of the Schengen zone, which would be a huge blow to the integrity of the European Union.
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