EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ilva Johansson voiced support for EU countries that are building fences at the external borders to prevent the illegal entry of migrants.
“Further efforts are needed to protect the external borders,” she told a news conference after the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council. Some countries have decided to build fences and I can understand them, I don’t mind. Is it good? idea of building fences with EU funds – I do not think, “she added.
Johansson said in response to a question that he was expressing the EC’s opinion, not his own. She added that states have the right to protect their borders and can best assess the means needed to do so, as long as they are within the framework of European legislation.
The European Commission confirmed earlier today that it had received a letter from 12 countries – Bulgaria, Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia – urging the EU to support the construction on border fences. The Commission said it would respond to this request later.
Slovenian Interior Minister Ales Hoys, as chairman of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, said his country also supports the call for European funding for border fences. He noted that 50 migrants are detained daily in the EU after arriving illegally. According to him, this shows that the external borders are not sufficiently protected.
