Prague, Dec 17 (CTK) – The EU´s plan to establish a European border protection guard of mere 1,500 troops cannot be meant seriously, as such a “tiny” unit cannot be effective along the Schengen border that is several thousands of kilometres long, Milos Balaban writes in daily Pravo on Thursday.
The EU border and coast guard should help member countries along the EU outer borders cope with the refugee crisis. It should secure the border protection where the respective member countries are incapable of resisting the migrant pressure by their own forces, Balaban writes.
It is to be an international team, a part of which would stay in reserve and could be put on duty in emergency cases. The deployment of the guards is expected at critical localities such as Italy, Greece and also some non-EU countries such as Macedonia or Serbia. In extreme cases, the guards should intervene even against the host country´s will, a plan some EU members are opposed to, Balaban writes.
The dispute should focus on something else, however. It is strange that the EC has proposed the establishment of a tiny unit that is supposed to help protect the long Schengen outer border that leads from the European north to the Mediterranean, Balaban writes.
In a situation where the EU´s 28 member countries together have almost two million soldiers and the overall military budget of some 200 billion euros, the proposed 1,500-strong international border guard is nothing but a mere gesture to show people that the EU is capable of acting and reacting to some members´ call for an effective protection of the Schengen border, Balaban writes.
If the EC meant it seriously, it would have to look overseas at its closest ally, the USA. The U.S. border patrol consists of almost 21,500 officers, and the coast guard even of 42,000, plus 1,850 ships and 205 planes, Balaban writes.
The EU, which is the economically strongest group on the planet and has a half billion inhabitants, deserves a similarly strong border security measures. To achieve this, EU leaders need to show political will and the courage to tell the people that such measures would cost money, Balaban writes.
The will is evidently lacking. With a border and coast guard of only 1,500 troops, the EU can never control its outer border effectively. Without an effective control, however, the Schengen system, now endangered, would be doomed, Balaban writes.
Disquieting signals can be heard from inside the EU. For example, German deputy finance minister Jens Spahn said there are 300,000 refugees in the country who are without any registration and no one knows where they came from or their current whereabouts, Balaban writes.
Finland´s security services, for their part, have estimated that the 30,000 refugees in the country include some 300 people linked to terrorist organisations. Last week, Finnish bodies arrested two Islamic State militants who are responsible for a massacre in Tikrit, Iraq, Balaban writes.
Will the EU finally wake up and start acting? he asks in conclusion.
