Paris Attacks Force European Union to Act on Border Controls

If Europe’s system of passport-free travel was not under enough pressure after a summer of chaotic migration, then last week’s attacks in Paris have fortified doubts over how much longer that freedom of movement — one of the most cherished accomplishments of the European Union — can survive.

 

The Nov. 13 massacres in Paris were carried out almost entirely by European passport holders who slipped in and out of Syria without being identified or checked. In addition, the discovery of a Syrian passport apparently held by one of the Paris assailants has renewed fears that terrorists have infiltrated the migrant wave.

 

With the focus now on bolstering security, European Union interior and justice ministers met in an emergency session on Friday and vowed to complete French proposals for tighter controls by the end of the year.

 

Read More: Paris Attacks Force European Union to Act on Border Controls – The New York Times