France and Italy to Reinstate Border Patrols Along Common Border

N. Sarkozy and S. Berlusconi (online.wsj.com)

France and Italy demanded, in a common letter signed by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, that the border policy of the European Union be revisited and temporarily altered, so that it would allow these two member countries to handle the flux of immigrants that are coming to Europe from the conflict zones in North Africa.

In the joint letter addressed on Tuesday to the EU officials, the two important European countries demand the temporary reinstitution of inner borders checks between them, a move which is bracketing the provisions of the Schengen agreement for a limited period in time.

However, they did not address the main problem, which is what will become of the 25,000 people which have already landed on Italian shores, coming from Tunisia and Libya, most of which are looking for a permanent residency on European soil.

France and Italy clashed over the last month as people who were coming to the Italian island of Lampedusa were then moving toward France.

Against a background of political vacuum on handling immigrants, France reinstated border patrol as the common border with Italy, in an attempt to control the phenomenon.

“We want Schengen to live on, but it must be reformed,” French President Sarkozy said in a joint conference with Berlusconi.

“Neither of us wants to deny Schnegen,” reassured Berlusconi in his turn, but he added that in extraordinary circumstances such as this alterations must be made to it.

Flags of Schengen Member States (alek-careca.blogspot.com)

Before the revolutions in north Africa Italy was counting on the strong leaders in these countries to contain the immigration flux. Once they started to fall, the problem became critical.

The two leaders said they would press EU to invest more in Frontex, the European border agency, as a means to gain more protection.