The escalating migrant crisis in Europe forced EU ministers of interior affairs to start informal discussions. In an effort to tackle the crisis, European policymakers express two opposite viewpoints. Germany and Austria proposed tightening their border checks for two years with a temporary exclusion of Greece from the Schengen area. On the other hand, some top officials insist on preserving Schengen. Indeed, EU governments have placed a big question mark over the future of Europe’s passport-free travel zone in response to a swelling flood of refugees.
Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said that a failure to secure the Greek-Turkish border could lead to the Schengen border moving to central Europe. European Council President Donald Tusk said the situation with refugees “reached the boiling point” and “it poses a serious threat to the EU political system”. "We have no more than two months to get things under control," Tusk stated. Surprisingly, even Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, who used to insist on “the open door” policy, agreed with Donald Tusk. She noted that until the migrant crisis is not settled, the Schengen system cannot exist like it works nowadays.
Thus, the 28-nation bloc will have to revise principles of the Schengen agreement or give up their commitments.
