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Op-Ed: Future of Europe’s Schengen Agreement in question

The European commission proposed plans on Monday evening that would turn the Schengen zone agreement that allows free travel between European countries on its head. The commission agreed to create a plan that would create border checkpoints throughout Europe for two years minimum. Such an action would disembowel the Schengen Agreement by requiring that some sort of identification consistent with passports be required in order for Europeans to travel throughout Europe.
Meanwhile, European leaders pressed Greece to attempt to stem the flow of unchecked migrants from Syria and other nations outside of Europe by building holding camps for 300,000 refugees.

The politically charged summit in Amsterdam saw Home Secretary Theresa May accuse her European counterparts of doing little to contain the flood of migrants storming Europes borders without being vetted. May says the growing crisis has the potential of shredding the EU. A well-known “Eurosceptic” Mrs May is heading up the “Leave” campaign. “Unfortunately what we’ve had is more talk than action,” she said Monday.
Reportedly David Cameron has just days left to complete his renegotiations with other EU nations before a looming referendum without which Britain would of its own choice cease to be a member. The EU commission has drawn up a draft text defining what the EU is prepared to offer Britain to remain a member. The long-awaited draft is due to be published early next week by Donald Tusk, the European Council president. Concessions and details contained in the document will largely determine whether Britain votes to leave the EU by way of referendum. With thousands of refugees creating mayhem at European borders the immigration crisis figures to weigh heavily on the minds of British voters.
Because richer nations in the EU have in recent years squabbled over bailouts and bank loans to poorer countries like Greece, there are financial incentives for such countries to go independent. Should there be an exodus of wealth from the EU, Germany, the largest economy in Europe and the biggest lender to troubled member states would be left holding more debt incurred by future loans.
For his part, Yannis Mouzalas, the Greek migration minister, protested the threat of his country’s exclusion from the Schengen agreement, characterizing such banter as playing a “blame game.” Greek officials said “eurosceptics” are peddling “lies” about border controls and maintained Greece was not consulted on the plan.
According to diplomats, the proposed plan would be a “second line of defense” as thousands of police would be deployed along the border separating Greece and Macedonia. Hundreds of thousands of migrants crossed the border in that region last year.

Dutch government officials said it is “inevitable” such actions as proposed will be mandatory when the current six-month period of temporary border checks that was imposed by Germany and five other states expires in May. “The unprecedented influx of asylum seekers, which compelled member states to take these measures nationally, has not decreased yet,” said Klaas Dijkhoff, the Dutch justice minister, who chaired the meeting.

Officials say the overwhelming influx of embedded immigrants, largely made up of fighting age males, are taxing social services beyond the capacity of infrastructure in many countries. Other critics of open borders say terrorists have already and will continue to embed with migrants, setting up pockets of radicals bent on conducting terrorist activity inside Western countries. Since the Paris massacre and the terrorist killings in San Bernardino, California, Europe has tightened security as leaders attempt to quell local uprisings after allegations of mass sex abuse and rapes in Cologne was reported as a disturbing trend among Middle East and North African Immigrants.

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