Schengen

The European Commission said Jan. 26 that it may eventually allow member states of the passport-free Schengen zone to reintroduce border checks for up to two years to cope with the migration crisis.

At a meeting in Amsterdam on Jan. 25 EU interior ministers had asked the Commission - the executive arm of the 28-nation European Union - about the possibility of extending the checks.

Alternate Migration Policy Minister Yiannis Mouzalas on Monday criticized pressures on Greece concerning the refugee crisis, adding that Greece’s exclusion from the Schengen Zone would not solve any problems. He instructed the European Commission to explore a procedure to extend temporary internal border checks within the Schengen area for up to two years.

There are no plans to either exclude Greece from Schengen or for the “suspension” of the treaty for two years, European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said on Monday.

“No such possibility exists,” stressed Bertaud.

The interior ministers of the EU member states are convening at an informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) council in Amsterdam on Monday and Tuesday.

Among the topics of discussion will be migration, border control, fight against terrorism and cyber security.

Right before Paris was put on alert over yet another incident on the first anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo assault by al-Qaeda on Jan. 7, former French President Nicholas Sarkozy claimed that the Schengen visa agreement "was dead." The agreement has brought visa-free travel to a number of European Union and non-EU European countries since the mid-1990s.

The EU has invited officials of Denmark, Sweden and Germany to an emergency meeting on Wednesday after the two Scandinavian countries tightened border checks in a bid to cope with the worst migration crisis in Europe since WWII.

The passport-free Schengen zone is "in danger" because of Europe's refugee crisis, Germany warned on Jan. 4 after Nordic countries announced new controls at their borders to stem a migrant influx.

"Freedom of movement is an important principle - one of the biggest achievements [in the European Union] in recent years," Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told reporters.

For the first time in half a century, Sweden was demanding photo identification for all travelers from Denmark in a drastic move to stem an unprecedented influx of refugees.

The European Commission adopted on Tuesday new measures for managing the European Union's external borders more efficiently and preserving the security of the bloc's Schengen area of passport-free travel.

Greece could be faced with a suspension from the free movement in the Schengen area. EU interior ministers are meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the refugee crisis. They are expected to ask fro more measures from Greece to control the flow of refugees to Europe, improve registration and set up cooperation with the EU.