Free Republic

France could be one step closer to a far-Right president, Marine Le Pen, after the deadly Islamic State attacks in the French capital The attack on Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket last January proved that Islamic extremists regarded themselves as at war with France. It is now clear to everyone - including some French public figures who have resisted the idea - that, as President Hollande said on Saturday, France is now at war with Islamic extremists. Because the enemy is already within - and the eight terrorists killed in the attacks in Paris are merely the tip of...

The European Union pressed African leaders on Wednesday to take back thousands of people who do not qualify for asylum, as overwhelmed Slovenia began building a razor-wire border fence to keep migrants at bay, raising tensions with neighboring Croatia. Sweden, struggling to manage the influx too, became the latest EU nation to announce the introduction of temporary border controls, as of Thursday. According to the International Organization for Migration, almost 800,000 people have entered Europe by sea this year. The EU predicts that three million more could arrive by 2017. ...

Four-fifths of respondents told pollsters that they were in favor of border controls in a new survey released on Monday. The poll, conducted by Initiative Markt- und Sozialforschung (Initiative for Market and Social Research) shows a big turnaround in opinion on the migrant crisis in recent weeks. Well over half—59 percent—of respondents thought Chancellor Angela Merkel had been wrong to allow Syrian refugees to travel unhindered to Germany from Hungary. …

Germany is to introduce temporary controls on its border with Austria to cope with the influx of migrants, the interior minister has said. Thomas de Maiziere said refugees could "not choose" their host countries and called on other EU states to do more. Trains between Germany and Austria have been suspended for 12 hours. Germany's vice-chancellor has said the country is "at the limit of its capabilities" as more than 13,000 migrants arrived in Munich on Saturday. SNIP--- Germany's rail service Deutsche Bahn said train services with Austria would be stopped until 03:00GMT on Monday

Germany’s second-largest police union on Tuesday called for the reintroduction of internal European border controls and demanded more personnel to deal with a record flood of refugees. “From a policing point of view, a return to border controls would be the best of all measures,” said Rainer Wendt, chairman of the German Police Union (DpolG), in a newspaper interview. The union, which wants an extra 1,000 personnel, was later Tuesday to show Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière the “catastrophic conditions” for overworked police near the German-Austrian border. …

As numbers of refugees entering Germany reach record highs, police have warned that they are struggling to cope with the growing demands on their time and resources. Speaking in Berlin on Monday, Bundespolizei (federal police) chief Dieter Romann said officials have seized over 63,000 people who entered the country illegally so far this year—with around 3,000 cases recorded last weekend alone. The total for this year so far has already eclipsed last year’s sum of 57,000, which had previously been the highest level since German reunification in 1990. […] The most numerous are those from Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan, although...

Federal Police announced on Wednesday that they had arrested record numbers of people entering Germany illegally in 2014, a 75 percent increase on the year before. Federal police chief Dieter Romann told journalists in Potsdam that his officers had stopped 57,000 people without permission to be in the country. Of these, 27,000 were detained in Germany, while a further 30,000 were stopped before they reached the Federal Republic. Most of those people came over the borders from Austria and France. …

The deputy Prime Minister said it risked "undermining public confidence" to let illegal immigrants stay if they have been in the country for more than 10 years. In his first major speech on immigration, he abandoned the controversial proposal, which was championed by the Liberal Democrats at the last election. Mr Clegg previously supported the idea of "earned citizenship" for illegal immigrants. His 2010 general election manifesto stated the Liberal Democrats would allow an amnesty for those who had been in the country a decade, speak English and have a clean record......

Frequent travelers to the EU’s border-free Schengen area will be able to cross frontiers “in seconds” thanks to a special machine-readable card presented today (28 February) by the EU’s Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström. Malmström presented a “Smart Border Package”, consisting of a Registered Traveler Program (RTP) and an Entry/Exit System (EES), which she said will simplify the life of frequent travelers within the Schengen area. … Green lawmakers in the European Parliament vowed to block the plan, saying it “would create a Big Brother 2.0 at Europe’s borders”. “All non-EU travelers would be effectively treated as suspected criminals, with...

The Dutch interior ministry has said new cameras for screening people who enter the country by car will not violate EU laws on free movement or privacy. In what looks like a fresh attack on the Schengen passport-free travel agreement, the pilot scheme—entitled "@migo-Boras"—is to see €19 million worth of cameras installed on 15 major highways from Belgium and Germany and in some police cars between February and April. … Dutch interior minister Gerd Leers said in a written statement in December the system "falls within the existing rules for border control and privacy." He added: "The cameras will not...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark on Friday approved a decision to re-establish permanent customs checkpoints at its borders, removing the last hurdle to a plan aimed at stopping crime and illegal immigration but which has been strongly criticized in Europe as violating visa-free travel rules. The 17-member parliamentary Finance Committee announced the approval after lawmakers voted to reject an opposition motion to abandon it. Germany and the European Union say border checkpoints violate EU rules on unrestricted travel in the Schengen zone and regulations on free movement within the bloc. In Denmark, opponents say it is a sop to nationalists, business...

Denmark has tightened its border controls in a move which opponents claim could sound the death knell for the EU’s principle of free movement. The Scandinavian country deployed an extra 50 customs officers at crossings on the German and Swedish borders in an attempt to curb cross-border crime and illegal immigration. Danish custom officers check a unindentified driver from the Netherlands at the Danish-German border in Padborg, Denmark This figure will rise to 98 by the end of the year. Denmark, which belongs to the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone, also plans to increase video surveillance at crossings and build four...

More European borders come down December 21st with Schengen Day As of Friday December the 21st, nine of Europe’s newest members will finally be allowed to come and play with the big boys in the EU’s border free, Schengen zone. In Europe’s very own Spice Girl moment, East and West will finally reunite, as borders are pulled down across Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. If you’re interested in learning more of what these new Schengen countries have to offer would-be travellers, take a gander at New Europe in from the Cold. However, surely the...

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU interior ministers unanimously agreed Thursday (8 November) that nine member states from central and eastern Europe are sufficiently prepared to join the bloc's Schengen border-free zone in December. Checks at internal land and sea borders will be abolished on 21 December, with air borders to follow in March 2008. After expanding to Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the current 15-member Schengen club will see its biggest ever enlargement. The first cornerstones to the zone were laid down in Schengen, a small Luxembourg village at the geographical meeting-point of...

Poland Promises To Preserve Highest Privileges For Visas Issue To Ukrainians Under Schengen Convention Poland promises to make all efforts to preserve the highest privileges for visas issue to Ukrainians under the Schengen Convention, to which Poland is a part. Poland's President Lech Kaczynski answered the question from Ukrainian News. «Poland is a part to the Schengen Convention and we will grant all possible privileges to Ukraine to the extent admissible by the convention. The process of visa issue to Ukrainian citizens will be a formality,» Kaczynski told. Acting foreign minister Borys Tarasiuk answered to Ukrainian News that Poland will...

Sweden has granted a Hamas leader a visa to enter the country, less than 48 hours after the country's prime minister insisted the visa would not be granted. Swedish media reported that its consulate general in Jerusalem issued the visa even though Sweden is "full square behind" western leaders' demands that the Hamas terror organization renounce violence and recognize Israel. A Swedish foreign ministry spokesman said that there were no objections from other countries in the European Union zone where open travel is allowed. The Hamas leader, a government minister responsible for trying to bring more than three million Arabs...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Less armed, less freeBy Richard MundayPublished June 7, 2005 A week in which the French and Dutch "No" votes to the European Unionconstitution rocked the whole project of European unification and left its future uncertain ended with a bizarre twist. On Sunday, in famously neutral, non-EU, non-European Economic Area Switzerland, the people voted by a 53-precent referendum majority to accept the Schengen and Dublin agreements. It was a move which, in the assessment of the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, now renders Switzerland a "virtual member" of the European Union.     It was not a...