Czech Republic and Other 11 States to Seek EU Funding For Walls Against Migrants
Interior ministers from 12 member states are demanding the EU finance border-wall projects to stop migrants entering through Belarus, in a further push towards creating a fortress Europe. In a letter dated 7 October, the ministers asked the European Commission to tweak external border-entry rules to include walls and fences. “Physical barriers appear to be an effective border protection measure that serves the interest of the whole EU, not just member states of first arrival,” they said in their letter to EU commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas and EU home-affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson. “This legitimate measure should be additionally and adequately funded from the EU budget as a matter of priority,” they said. The four-page letter was signed by the interior ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia. It comes as the regime of Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko is shuffling migrants mainly from Afghanistan and Iraq to its shared borders with Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, leading to standoffs that have resulted in the loss of life of would-be asylum seekers. Around 4,000 people have entered Lithuania, some 1,400 have gotten into Poland, and around 400 came to Latvia over the past few months. All...
