BRUSSELS: Amid concerns over extremist violence and illegal migration, several European Union (EU) countries, part of the Schengen area that generally allows free movement, have recently stepped up their border controls.
Hours after the Slovenian government decided to impose border controls with Croatia and Hungary from Saturday until October 30, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday temporarily suspended border controls with Slovenia, Xinhua news agency reported. Announced resumption.
“Urgent action is needed to ensure public order and safety of our citizens as well as EU citizens,” the Slovenian government said in a statement. “External events confirm that members of various terrorist and extremist movements and groups are withdrawing from areas of armed conflict to avoid the potential consequences of their actions or even to threaten our security and stability.” Are.”
The statement said Slovenia had recorded 48,076 illegal border crossings since the beginning of the year to October 15, while 18,433 illegal border crossings were recorded in the first nine months of 2022. On Wednesday, Italy temporarily suspended the EU’s Schengen rules for open travel, reactivating dormant border controls with Slovenia.
Border controls between Italy and Slovenia will begin on Saturday and last for at least 10 days, the Italian government said, adding that the goal is a “rapid return” to control-free border crossings, but the measure could be extended.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, “The suspension of the Schengen treaty on free movement in Europe was necessary due to the worsening situation in the Middle East, the increase in migratory flows on the Balkan route and, above all, for reasons of national security.” On social media.
Germany also notified the European Commission on Monday of temporary controls on its borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in an effort to fight illegal migration. German Interior Minister Nancy Feser said the decision was taken as “the business of smugglers is becoming increasingly cruel and dishonest”.
By the beginning of October, Germany had already detected 98,000 unauthorized entries, 6,000 more than the previous year. The introduction of these border restrictions comes at a time when many European countries have recently seen a rise in public security incidents.
Belgian authorities raised the terror threat level for the entire country after a 45-year-old gunman of Tunisian origin shot and killed two Swedish citizens in the center of Brussels on Monday evening.
Italy arrested two men on Tuesday on suspicion of recruiting for the Islamic State terrorist group. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani downplayed the immediate threat of a terrorist attack in Italy, but said it was important for the country to remain vigilant.
Additionally, several European airports received bomb threats in the past few days. At least seven airports received threats and were evacuated on Thursday, according to French police, including those of Lille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes and Toulouse.
Ostend-Bruges airport in northwestern Belgium also had to be evacuated on Wednesday due to a bomb threat. The ongoing war in Gaza has strained the nerves of many European countries, especially France and Germany, which are home to the EU’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities.
The Hamas-Israel conflict has entered its second week, but there is still no end in sight. It is uncertain how long the Schengen countries will maintain such border controls or whether more countries will follow suit.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Croatian Prime Minister Plenkovic said: “Schengen is not finished, but there is a problem. “The introduction of border controls is not a novelty, it comes from an assessment of migration trends and growing security threats.”