EU launches joint border guard to stem migrant inflows

The European Union launched a joint border guard force on Thursday as it tries to prevent any repeat of an uncontrolled influx of migrants and refugees last year that has opened up gaping rifts between member states.

Overwhelmed by the arrival of some 1.3 million people in 2015, the EU has increasingly focused on sealing its external borders. The new force is designed to deploy quickly and flexibly to any location on the bloc's frontiers.

"The establishment of the agency is a symbol of the EU, of a Europe that is able to deliver, that is proving its efficiency in addressing the migration and security challenges we are faced with," EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told a ceremony at a Bulgarian border point with Turkey.

The new body is due to have 1,000 staff and a reserve pool of 1,500 border guards designated by member states. In the past, however,...