Poland to restore border checkpoints

“We seek to deploy border guards in places that have been phased out in recent years,” the minister said in an interview for Polish Radio.

As Błaszczak underlined, screenings would be put in place for all travelers entering EU’s passport-free zone, including European citizens – a step which will entail a targeted revision of the Schengen Borders Code.

In line with the decision, the selection of individuals to undergo screenings against security and criminal databases is to be based on common risk indicators concerning foreign terrorist militants.

Tightening EU’s external borders was one of the decisions taken by Europe’s ministers for internal affairs at Friday’s emergency summit held in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks on 13 November.

Two of the suspected Islamist millitants who took part in the attack are believed to have entered the EU via Greece, posing as asylum-seekers fleeing Syria.

Other measures discussed by the interior ministers included sharing intelligence on terrorist threats between countries and an EU-wide passenger name record system to boost aviation security, the latter of which is yet to be approved by the European Parliament.

“We will not settle for any compromise. Poles’ safety is of utmost importance,” Błaszczak stated during the interview. “We will not give into ideologies of political correctness,” he underlined, adding that the former government’s decision to take in 7,000 refugees was “wrong”.

The reinforcement of the EU’s external borders is one of the focal points of Monday’s extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council in Warsaw today.

The event, attended by Prime Minister Beata Szydło, Interior Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, alongside representatives of the country’s uniformed services, is also centered on a number of other issues, including the passenger name records system, the problem of firearm trafficking and terrorist financing. (aba/di)

Source: IAR, PR