Law enforcement in Europe

Greece, like other countries, was not ready at the beginning to deal with the huge flow of refugees, Commissioner for Immigration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos pointed out at TA NEA newspaper. However, he has recently seen efforts to be accelerated.

The refugee issue continues to be one of the most important topics for Greek government following yesterday’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s acknowledgment that Greece risks of becoming a ‘storehouse’ of refugees.

Greece faces the possibility of being ousted from the Schengen zone as it is considered the “Achilles heel” of the area. For this reason, EU interior ministers are meeting on Friday to consider what to do about Greece’s inability to stem the flow of refugees and others streaming towards the EU.

An internal memo dated December 1 from the presidency of the council of the Euroepan Union to the EU Permanent Representatives Committee, titled “Integrity of the Schengen area”, outlines a 2-year EU plan for an exit from the Schengen area for member states such as Greece who cannot adequately safeguard EU borders.

Greece could be faced with a suspension from the free movement in the Schengen area. EU interior ministers are meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the refugee crisis. They are expected to ask fro more measures from Greece to control the flow of refugees to Europe, improve registration and set up cooperation with the EU.

Greece hit back at threats from some EU states to suspend it from the Schengen area because of its failure to guard its borders and control large numbers of migrants entering Europe, Reuters say.

Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas talked about the issue following Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s statements on excluding Greece from Schengen area.

According to Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva, at present the Schengen Area was in such a state that there were two possible outcomes.

In her words, the borderless area could be either consolidated or else it would disappear, she said in an interview for private bTV station on Tuesday.

Turkey is to get some EUR 3 B in funding, visa liberalization with the EU, and the prospect of having membership talks renewed, EU and Turkish leaders have decided at a Sunday summit.

In return, Ankara will have to stem the flow of migrants trying to cross from its borders into neighboring Southeastern European countries.

In a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, warned that the Schengen Area is ''partly comatose''.

Juncker added that an eventual collapse of the Schengen Area might have negative political consequences for the EU, including the Euro.

Eight people have been arrested in a crackdown on a Europe-wide organised crime group suspected of arranging for mainly Albanian nationals to be brought into the EU in breach of immigration law, Europol announced on Tuesday.    

The group, comprised mainly of Czech and Albanian nationals, has been operating since late 2013, Europol said in a press release.