Well, I sat and saw the news and saw it coming, so why the politicians couldn't I don't know. Hungary was criticized for closing its borders, but they didn't have the manpower to cope and the EU powers forced them to do so. Now Hungary isn't one of the richer states and they didn't have the funds to do this either. Then Croatia allowed refugees passage to Slovakia to enter the Schengen area, and then realized they couldn't cope either. Then Germany followed, and finally the penny dropped... Schengen was introduced to make traveling between the states quicker, whereas in reality, many countries already had lax land borders already. It was only via air that checks were really made. It was not created as a way for illegal immigrants and refugees to find a way to the richest country to settle in, but that's how it has been used.
I was really pleased with Hungary for doing that when they did and the reports from the hours and days after showed the "refugees" for what they truly were. I mean the footage showed them throwing stuff over the fences and trying to pull the fences down, all the while they were donning balaclavas and stuff while claiming they just want peace. There's no better incentive to let someone cross your border than to throw stuff and try to tear it down, is there?
I too saw that news story and as the reporter said, they weren't exactly helping their case or making themselves look appealing to be let in as they set fire to tires and threw them over the fence. I mean trying to force your way in through violence doesn't make a country want to take you in or to help you, especially when they injured the police too. It boils down to rights; the police have a right and duty to be there, and the refugees and migrants did not, so legally Hungary did nothing illegal, but to control the borders and prevent violence coming into their country.
Exactly, you hit the nail right on the head. Have you seen the current situation at another border on the country I forget the name of? The Refugees have sewn up their lips in protest and claim they will not move. I really don't get the point they are trying to prove. A couple weeks back the refugees on Cyprus were demanding to be let go, or they were going to hang themselves. It just doesn't make any sense at all to me.
Schengen was always a weird concept, because it only applied to member citizens of the EU (I think I'm right in saying that - please correct me if I'm wrong), therefore border checks weren't ever really done away with, as such, they just meant that if you had an EU ******** you could go through without any further hindrance. But this latest crisis sort of proves why borders are needed in the first place. I think the Schengen principle has failed, and I don't know how it could go back to the way it was before, not with the dangers as obvious as they are today.
Members chose to be part of Schengen or not, so once you entered a country with that agreement, you didn't need to show your ID again. It depends on the country and their own borders, but countries like Belgium and France have not really had any borders as people commute for work near border areas. This means if you arrive in say Paris by plane from the US, you can then theoretically travel to all the other Schengen countries without showing your ID Countries could still have border controls, but most don't because it costs too much money. Police always have the right to ask for ID.
OK, thanks for clearing that up. Your last sentence is interesting re: the police. Here in the UK we don't have a history of mandatory state issued ID cards like they have on the continent. I often forget that, and yes, in places like France and Germany it can be an offense not to provide your ID in a way which it isn't here in England.
I am in the UK and I think it's safer (not foolproof) way of ensuring a secure state. In the old days if you got a train from Italy to France, the train would stop at the border and border control would come on board and check IDs. Now they can just go straight through which is maybe how the train incident happened ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Thalys_train_attack) as it was all within the Schengen area. Maybe border checks would have made that attack less feasible?
In that case the attack would have simply happened before or during the border control. Simple as that. As stated previously the police and the border control (which ever agency it falls under in the specific country) has the right to ask for your ID. When crossing borders it's either your ******** or your ID card. For the police stuff like drivers license works. So they have the right to ask for it but in reality most borders within the EU... well there is no control. I've been checked multiple times on different borders but overall I'd say less than 10% of the time.
This. There is simply no way that this system is sustainable; it's putting economic and cultural strains on the nations involved, and with the heightened awareness of the threat of terrorism there is simply no way that politicians can allow this policy to remain without knowledge of the possible consequences. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if they acted stupidly in the face of pressure...
