Heralding Schengen suspension, EU gives Greece three months to fix borders
The European Union took a step on Friday toward allowing for a two-year suspension of its prized free-travel Schengen zone to boost controls of the flows of people, acknowledging there is no quick fix in sight to the migration crisis engulfing the bloc.
Greece, the main gateway to Europe for more than a million refugees and migrants last year, has been overwhelmed by the influx and other EU states have increasingly criticized Athens for not managing the flows properly.
Several EU states including Germany, the main destination for people arriving in Europe from the Middle East and Africa, have quoted Greece's problems in temporarily reinstating emergency controls on some internal Schengen borders.
But they expire in May and, in order to have them extended, EU states on Friday gave Athens three months to fix "serious deficiencies" on its part of the Schengen area's external border, including in registration, sea border surveillance, border checks and others.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-greece-schengen-idUSKCN0VL10M
