The Internal and External Ring

BERLIN (Own report) – Within the EU, the mounting pressure to ward off refugees, is intensifying the debate about a possible dismantling of the Schengen system. It is yet unclear, whether Berlin can reach its objective of stopping refugees at the external borders of Greece to be immediately deported to Turkey. Alternately, attempts are being made to turn Macedonia into a buffer state against refugees, while threatening Greece’s exclusion from the Schengen system. The establishment of a “Mini-Schengen” is being considered as an emergency solution. Even while officially continuing to reject such a “Mini-Schengen,” the German government is already involved in its planning, which the Netherlands is officially directing. Any option beyond effectively sealing off Greece’s external borders, i.e. abandoning part of the Schengen-system, would be a first retreat – with unforeseeable consequences. According to observers, this could seriously weaken the EU.

Paris Attacks Reveal the Outlines of a New Europe

A smaller EU with its own army can already be seen on the horizon.

“Europe will be forged in crises and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises.” Those famous words from one of the European Union’s founding fathers, Jean Monnet, explain much of what is happening in Europe. The economic crisis is forcing the political union that EU leaders could not get voters to agree to. And now, in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, new, major changes are afoot.

Externally, Europe is being forced into the Middle East. France’s decision to invoke the EU’s self-defense clause instead of nato’s will have major implications for the union’s defense arrangement.