Migrant boat sinks in Aegean; 6 bodies recovered

Hungary became the first European Union country to erect a border fence previous year, thus diverting hundreds of thousands of migrants to Croatia and Slovenia.

“Currently, the temporary border measures can be taken only for a limited period of six months”. If no other mechanism is in place by then, the Schengen rule book could effectively be suspended.

It emerged last night that David Cameron has just days left to finalise his renegotiation with other European Union nations ahead of a proposed referendum.

In 2015, some 850,000 people traveled to Greece from Turkey, according to estimates from the United Nations refugee agency. At the time, the International Monetary Fund estimated that the abolition of border controls on the continent would add 1 to 3% to the area’s GDP growth. Simon’s experience brought him both moments of “sheer happiness”, but also a haunting sadness as he had to turn some away and watch others die.

But, Metsola said, “there is a lack of knowledge as to who is coming in and who is going out, and that automatically increases fear and increases the security concerns”.

The Slovenian plan essentially envisages that most of the migrants who are now entering Greece would stay there.

The ministers council asked the commission to study the possibility of extending border checks in the area up to two years.

Greek government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday that the situation when the report was taken “was very different than today” and it wasn’t “constructive to attempt isolation of Greece”.

Cracks have appeared in the borderless, passport-free Schengen zone as member states try to deal with the EU’s unprecedented migrant crisis.

Dombrovskis said that the Commission was intent on preserving Schengen, one of the EU’s key achievements, and said Greece had made improvements in its border controls since November.

“We want to be prepared so we are pursuing the options that could be available to us under article 26 if and when we need to activate them”.

Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and non-EU member Norway have introduced temporary controls in response to the migrant crisis, but they are limited to six months.

The assessment comes from a still secret Schengen evaluation report on Greece that the commission would forward to member states.

Sobotka said it was even a question whether Greece had “given up” on its duties.

“We are not linking the Greek (bailout) programme with Schengen related issues”, said Dombrovskis, who took a leading role in the drawn-out bailout negotiations previous year.

Tusk will next week table a draft of Cameron’s renegotiation proposals which will be discussed at a Brussels summit in February.

Greek Coast Guard officers have so far recovered the bodies of three men, two women and the toddler, while a rescue operation is underway to locate more survivors.

“If we can not secure the outer border [of the EU], regardless of how costly or demanding that is, we will destroy the Schengen regime by ourselves”, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (pictured) warned on a visit to Slovenia last week, Ekathimerini reported. “The Commission, in cooperation with the European External Action Service, is stepping up its engagement on the readmission of irregular migrants to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and North African countries, as well as with Sub-Saharan partners”, says Juncker.