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Proposals to limit or reduce Schengen are unacceptable: V4

Xinhua, December 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

The prime ministers of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries agreed at a summit in Prague on Thursday that any proposals to create a so-called mini-Schengen are unacceptable.

They are also against any direct or hidden attempts to limit the free movement of persons within the European Union. They convinced that individual EU member countries must responsibly protect the external borders of the Schengen area.

Recently, several informal proposals for limiting or diminishing the Schengen area to exclude the Central European countries theoretically have emerged behind the scenes in diplomacy due to the migration crisis.

Opportunistic proposals for the revolutionary transformation of the current Schengen into so-called mini-Schengen in any possible form and scope, as well as direct or covert attempt to restrict the free movement goes beyond the legal framework and threaten the main achievements of European integration, are not acceptable, the prime ministers said.

These proposals do not solve the causes of the current crisis, but only divert political attention, said the prime ministers of the V4 countries in a joint statement.

V4 prime ministers also agreed to initiate steps towards the establishment of the Friends of Schengen group, which is to be a platform for open debate on Schengen rules and their improvement. They also offered all necessary assistance and cooperation to France which recently attacked by terrorist.

The need to improve the sharing of intelligence and other information within Europe, the completion of negotiations on the directive on passenger name records, and measures to combat the financing of terrorism and organized crime are specifically mentioned. They supported the effective coordination of efforts in order to destroy the Islamic State.

The V4 countries are the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Endit