Press Release
Agreement on systematic controls of EU external borders
News item | 28-02-2016 | 14:18
EU migration ministers agree that everyone, including EU citizens, will be systematically checked at the EU’s external borders. All member states will be obliged to check that no one entering or leaving the EU represents a threat to public order and security.
The ministers reached agreement on the controls in Brussels thursday during a meeting chaired by the Netherlands Presidency.
Mr Dijkhoff told the meeting that the migration crisis could only be tackled jointly, with the cooperation of all member states, all countries along the Western Balkan route and Turkey. He therefore spoke not only to EU ministers but also to his counterparts from the Balkan countries and Turkey.
Some countries in the Western Balkans have already taken national border measures. ‘Countries are coming under extreme pressure from the unprecedented inflow of asylum seekers and illegal migrants,’ Mr Dijkhoff acknowledged. ‘It is understandable that they are taking measures. But if the measures have humanitarian consequences in other countries, especially in Greece, we must all be ready to help.’
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