Europe Raises Pressure on Greece to Tighten Its Borders

By JAMES KANTERJAN. 27, 2016

 The New York Times

BRUSSELS — The European Union authorities on Wednesday raised pressure on Greece to step up its efforts to slow the flow of migrants and tighten control of the bloc’s external borders, the first step in a process that would allow some countries to its north to extend their border controls for up to two years.

Valdis Dombrovskis, a vice president of the European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, said that Greece was “seriously neglecting its obligations” by failing to properly register and fingerprint migrants. That conclusion led the commission to file a report to member states detailing “persistent and serious deficiencies” by Greece at controlling its borders.

More than one million migrants arrived in the European Union last year, many of them using routes through Turkey to reach Greece and other countries farther north.

The filing of the report, which member states will now evaluate, begins a process that could allow governments in countries like Austria and Germany to maintain controls on their national borders for up to two years once current controls expire in mid-May.

The commission is seeking to prevent member states from making chaotic and uncoordinated decisions in response to domestic pressures to manage sudden influxes of migrants. A joint European Union decision to keep controls in place would be one way of preserving the Schengen agreement, which allows the free movement of people across much of the bloc’s internal borders.

But fortifying the borders for two more years could result in a humanitarian crisis in Greece, if large numbers of migrants arrive and are unable to move north, forcing them to stay in poorly equipped reception centers or makeshift camps.

To avoid such an outcome, the European Union has agreed to relieve the pressure on Greece and Italy by relocating tens of thousands of migrants to other countries in the bloc. But many member states have balked at that plan. As of Wednesday, only 414 migrants have been moved, according to the European Commission.

There are also plans to create a European Border and Coast Guard Agency that would double the staff of the current border agency, Frontex, and create a separate reserve force to be deployed even when a member state rejects help. But that plan could also founder if member states resist the prospect of their sovereignty’s being eroded.

Mr. Dombrovskis said the report that he described on Wednesday, which was not made public, was based on a survey carried out in November at several Greek islands and at the border with Turkey.

The survey found that there was “no effective identification and registration of irregular migrants, and that fingerprints are not being systematically entered in the system,” and that “travel documents are not being systematically checked for authenticity or against crucial security databases.”

Those findings risk raising the stakes with the Greek government. This week, Ioannis Mouzalas, a minister for immigration policy, accused European politicians of spreading “lies” regarding the crisis and the role of the government in Athens, and of pursuing a “blame game” against his country.

But wealthy northern nations that are the preferred destinations of many migrants are eager to make the case that the solution mostly rests with their neighbors to the south, especially Greece. On Monday, European Union interior ministers meeting in Amsterdam backed the idea of keeping the border controls in place longer.

Now that the commission has sent its report, its next step is to present specific recommendations for Greece that would need the approval of a majority of member states. Greece then would have three months to fix the shortcomings identified by Mr. Dombrovskis. If the problems persist, the member states will need to vote again by majority to allow countries like Germany and Austria to renew their border controls.

Six countries, including Austria, Denmark, Germany and Sweden, still have border controls in force in response to the most serious refugee crisis for Europe since World War II.

Norway — which is not in the European Union but is a member of the Schengen area — also imposed controls.

France imposed its border controls after deadly terrorist attacks on Paris in November.