Creation of European Border Service to Take Long Time – French FM

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — A European border service could be created, but it would take time, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday.

“This is what the Schengen is meant for, in particular, for monitoring the external borders and free travel inside the eurozone, as well as exceptional measures for emergency situations. However, the creation of the border service will take much time. And such a severe refugee flow has already destabilized the system,” Fabius said in an interview with five European media organizations.

According to the foreign minister, there are several urgent issues required to be undertaken in the refugee crisis, including the immediate creation of housing centers in EU border countries, the organization of a fair distribution of refugees, logistical assistance to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, and the implementation of political solutions to wars and economic crises that drive citizens to flee their home countries.

Fabius said that re-introducing strict national border controls within the EU will not solve the crisis.

EU member states have been struggling with the enormous refugee migration of those fleeing violence in their war-torn home countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Some 500,000 migrants have arrived in the European Union since the beginning of 2015, the European Commission estimates.