#SCHENGEN ZONE

Polish FM Radosław Sikorski speaking during his visit to Netherlands Photo: PAP/Albert Zawada

Poland’s FM calls for ‘effective control’ of Schengen zone’s external borders

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has called for ‘effective control’ of the European Union’s external borders to safeguard the Schengen Area, amid ongoing debates over migration policy.

Left: East German border guard at the sector border during the construction of the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz; at the back is a sign, reading: ‘You are entering the Democratic Berlin’. Right: German police is seen at the German-French border on September 16, 2024 in Kehl, Germany. Photos: Alex Waidmann/ullstein bild via Getty Images; Thomas Niedermueller/Getty Images

Guest Column | Mr Scholz, tear down this wall

Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg can check out for themselves a new menace to Europe’s future by just hopping on a tram. Take the D-line from the city centre in France and MEPs can watch German police climb aboard to check passports a couple of stops before the terminus – just one manifestation of new border controls imposed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Politics

Berlin's decision could Photo: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Germany’s border controls risk undermining the Schengen zone, warn EU officials

Germany’s decision to impose controls on all its land borders has raised concerns among EU officials, who fear it could prompt other countries to follow suit, thus weakening the Schengen free-movement zone, the British newspaper Financial Times (FT) reported on Sunday.

Illutrative street view of Bulgarian capital, Sofia with Vitosha mountain in the background. Photo by: Alex Segre/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.

Up to 40% of Bulgaria's foreign workforce heads quickly for the EU

Workers from outside the EU are using Central and Eastern Europe as a staging post for Western Europe, with officials in Bulgaria and Romania (both new members of the European Schengen free travel zone) complaining that as many as 40% of the workers do not see out the term of their contracts before moving on to Western Europe.

Flags of the Republic of Turkey (L) and the flag of the Republic of Bulgaria (R) at the land border between Bulgaria and Turkey on September 15, 2021, in Rezovo, Bulgaria. Photo by Hristo Rusev/Getty Images

EU border agency Frontex to triple officers on Bulgaria-Turkey frontier

The European Union’s border agency Frontex said on Thursday it will triple the number of its officers in Bulgaria from next month to help stem the number of people crossing into the bloc from Turkey.