Toby on Tuesday

'Schengen and Shenanigans'

Last week I wrote about the Euro-currency as it approaches its endgame in Greece.   Today I want to write about the endgame of the Schengen zone, that other totem of EU ideology.   For Wednesday 4th May, 2016 will go down in history as the day when the EU finally committed suicide.   For that was the day when the Brussels Commission approved visa-free travel to the 26-nation Schengen zone, and in consequence to Britain and Ireland too, for nearly 130 million citizens of Turkey, Kosovo, Georgia and Ukraine.   All are unstable and dangerous countries, but the most unstable and dangerous is probably Turkey, with its borders onto Iran, Iraq and Syria.   And just to underscore what has happened, on 4th May Turkish became an official language of the EU, while the Commission issued a press release which declared that Turkey’s “accession process will be re-energised, with Chapter 33 to be opened”..before 30th June...”and preparatory work on the opening of other chapters to continue at an accelerated pace.”   And to confirm the legal position, any citizen of all four countries will shortly be able to enter the Schengen zone for up to 90 days for tourism and up to 180 days for business.   And any holder of an EU identity card – not even a full passport – has absolute right of entry into Britain.   

So it’s not surprising that one principal growth industry in Bulgaria and Romania is the creation of fake identity cards and the forgers can expect a rush of new business once all that visa-free travel starts at the end of June, just after our Referendum.   Now it’s well worth reading an article by Adrian Mogos on the Balkan Insight website which reports that, “For a few hundred euros I obtained a new Romanian identity complete with a new name of Turkish origin.   For the next few months I was no longer Adrian Mogos, but Murad Alin Erdogan from Timisuara.   Why choose a Turkish name?   Because most illegal immigrants crossing Romania are Turkish and I wanted to follow in their footsteps.   It was not difficult to obtain a fake identity card, nor to use it”   Now the most celebrated Mr. Erdogan of all is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, who has already announced plans to create a new Islamic Union, led by Turkey.   So for nearly 80 million Turkish citizens, plus all those who have arrived there from Syria, Iran and Iraq, they can soon have a visa-free jaunt to Bulgaria or Romania, a cheap EU Identity Card and then it’s off to the races in York or Thirsk or Epsom or Aintree, all with the help of the British taxpayer!

And even the EU itself has admitted that there is no system in place to detect visa-free entrants from those four countries who overstay their welcome beyond the approved 90 or 180 days.   So it’s not surprising that the most committed advocates of a “Remain” vote in June are starting to get a bit windy about the EU’s chaotic migrant system where, as with the Euro-currency, ideology is about to hit reality   Even Yorkshire’s sole Conservative MEP, the pro-Remain Timothy Kirkhope, has acknowledged that proper entry and exit checks should be in place before the deal with Turkey gets underway.   As a former immigration minister, he should at least understand what is happening.   In his own words, “Getting a system in place where there is order and discipline is absolutely essential.   Unless you have a system in place to check in and check out, it’s not possible to run any kind of sensible immigration system at all.   It sounds very reasonable to say it is just for 90 days, but how the hell do you know it is just 90 days, and how at the end of 90 days do you locate and remove them?”   Welcome to UKIP Mr. Kirkhope, but the truth is that the EU has no system in place to monitor all those new arrivals, let alone departures, and the policy is firmly underway.

Understandably the nations of Europe are now busy jettisoning Schengen as quickly as they can.   Outside the EU, Norway has reintroduced border checks, while Switzerland now has 2,000 soldiers in tanks patrolling its border with Italy as the migrant route moves there.   And within the EU, Sweden now controls its border with Denmark, which itself now controls its border with Germany.   Austria has built huge fences at four of its border crossings and reintroduced checks at the strategically vital Brenner Pass, while France, Belgium and even Germany have reintroduced border controls.   So much for the Schengen dream of a borderless Europe.   These are the natural responses of countries seeking to survive, but the Schengen dream of a border-free Europe is dead.   I have no doubt that in time sanity will prevail and the great Continent of Europe will recover, indeed Britain’s task as in the past will be to help it towards its recovery.   But the ideological EU project finally brought its own existence to an end on 4th May, 2016 when it opened its borders to so many who wish it harm.   And once Britain has voted for “Leave” on 23rd June, then a sensible Europe can start to emerge from the ashes of the whole insane EU project!

Until next Tuesday!

Toby