Saturday, January 23, 2016

EU may shut out Greece to seal Schengen borders


January 23 2016

International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said last night that the refugee crisis had pushed Europe to a “a bit of a make or break” point and endangered the EU’s cherished passport-free Schengen area.

Emergency plans to seal off Greece from the Schengen travel zone and introduce frontier controls across Europe for two years will be discussed by interior ministers, as fears grow that the refugee crisis could deal a death blow to the EU.

Talks, starting on Monday, will be chaired by the Netherlands. Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, admitted last week that a secret “Plan B” for the EU’s border-free area was under discussion.

“The refugee crisis is a bit of a make or break, from my personal perspective,” Ms Lagarde said last night at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

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