Schengen zone never closer to disintegration: Polish deputy FM

Szymański told private broadcaster TVN24 that unless tighter controls are introduced on the Schengen area’s land borders, Europe’s cherished free-travel zone will not survive.

Asked on TVN24 whether the Schengen area was close to breaking up, Szymański said: "We have never been closer, we can say that with certainty."

Earlier this week, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło and her Visegrad Group counterparts called for a fence to be installed to close off Macedonia and Bulgaria's borders with Greece, along a key immigration route from the Middle East to Western Europe.

Some commentators have predicted a clash between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Visegrad Group at the EU summit starting on Thursday.

But Szymański said that Szydło was not planning a confrontation with Merkel.

Increasing controls at the Macedonian and Bulgarian borders “is something complementary, additional. Perhaps this can be regarded as a plan B,” Szymański said.

“Today, we cannot rule out that the Greek-Turkish border will be uncontrolled, and we must have the means to slow down the wave of migration on land. Without that the Schengen zone will not survive." (pk)

Source: PAP