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EU recommends five Schengen states prolong border checks for six months

Xinhua, May 11, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Council of the European Union (EU) on Thursday adopted an implementing decision, recommending five Schengen states prolong temporary internal border controls for a maximum period of six months.

The decision came on the heels of a proposal floated by the European Commission on May 2 staking out such suggestions.

While citing "internal security resulting from the continued risk of secondary movements of irregular migrants" as the main cause of the decision, the Council underscored that the five relevant Schengen states --Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway -- should "ensure that internal border controls are carried out only where it is considered necessary and proportionate."

"They should also ensure that internal border controls are only carried out as a last resort and when other alternative measures cannot achieve the same effect," the Council said in a statement, adding that the five states should phase them out wherever appropriate.

It is the third time -- and the last time under EU rule that the Council recommended the five states extend border controls, which was reintroduced in May 2016, in the context of migrant crisis.

The Council, in November 2016 and February 2017 respectively, recommended extending the measures for three months. Endit