Page 9 - atoday

WORLD NEWS 9
Clock ticks down on EU passport free travel dream
Migrants walk from the Macedonian border into Serbia, near the
village of Miratovac, Serbia, in the early morning Saturday, Jan.
23, 2016.
LORNE COOK
Associated Press
BRUSSELS (AP) — Passport-
free travel and hassle-
free business in Europe has
never been in more dan-
ger.
With more than 1 million
people streaming into the
European Union hoping
for sanctuary or jobs, na-
tions have erected fences,
deployed troops and tight-
ened border controls.
“What we have worked for,
Protests escalate against Greek pension reform
ATHENS, Greece (AP) —
Greece’s leftwing prime
minister defended his un-
popular pension reform
plans Tuesday, pledging
to avoid new cuts, as pro-
tests against the creditor-
demanded measures es-
calated.
Alexis Tsipras told a special they will end up paying
parliamentary session that
the financially struggling
country’s pension system
faces collapse unless swift
corrective action is taken.
He insisted that the reforms
will see no new reductions
in core pensions — which
have been repeatedly
slashed since the start of
Greece’s financial crisis.
The pension overhaul
has been demanded by
Greece’s bailout creditors,
(AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) and Sweden to impose ID
for so many years, we are
seeing it crumbling now in
front of us,” Roberta Metso-
la, a leading EU lawmaker
on migration, told The As-
sociated Press on Tuesday.
As draconian as they might
seem, most attempts to
stem the migrant flow have
been within the letter, if
not the spirit, of the rules
governing the European
travel haven known as the
Schengen area, a jewel in
the EU’s integration crown
whose rescue loans have
kept the country afloat
since mid-2010.
The proposed changes will
lead to large increases in
social security contribu-
tions, mostly affecting self-
employed professionals
and farmers, who say that
more than three quarters
of their income to pension
funds and tax authorities.
Unions representing groups
as disparate as lawyers,
doctors, police and fisher-
men are protesting the re-
forms, while farmers are us-
ing thousands of tractors to
block highways across the
country.
Conservative opposition
leader Kyriakos Mitsota-
kis accused the year-old
Wednesday 27 January 2016
But as of mid-May, the Aid groups estimate that in Germany or Sweden,
EU is in uncharted waters. Greece has shelter for and these countries and
The legal options for coun- barely 10,000 people; a their neighbors say they
tries like Germany, Austria little over one percent of will have to impose border
those who need it. The controls if Greece can’t or
checks on everyone who Greek coastguard is totally won’t.
enters, including Europe- overwhelmed. “It’s clear that if we can’t
ans, begin to run out. Managing the country’s secure the European bor-
“Our citizens have a right vast maritime border would ders — that means the
to feel safe,” Metsola said. challenge even an experi- Greek-Turkish border —
“If that means that we will enced government with a then the Schengen border
need to keep stock of who fully equipped public ser- will move to central Eu-
is crossing our borders for vice. Greece, at the mo- rope,” Austrian Interior Min-
a specific amount of time, ment, is also consumed ister Johanna Mikl-Leitner
then we will have to do it.” with a crippling economic said Monday.
The German government crisis. With Schengen under
has signaled it’s unlikely to But, Metsola said, “there is threat, few palatable op-
ease border controls on a lack of knowledge as to tions are available and
May 13, when its temporary who is coming in and who time is running out.
border measures legally ex- is going out, and that au- The EU’s executive Com-
pire. tomatically increases fear mission is preparing a plan
If no other mechanism is in and increases the security that could allow border
place by then, the Schen- concerns.” checks in some countries to
gen rule book could effec- Most migrants don’t want be extended for up to two
tively be suspended. to stay in Greece. Many years.q
Most EU nations blame hope to be find sanctuary
Greece for this. Some
850,000 people arrived
there last year, many to the
Greek islands after a short
but often treacherous sea
journey in smugglers’ boats
from Turkey.
government of “sacrificing
future generations to gain
popularity today,” and
warned in Parliament that
the measures will increase
tax evasion and non-pay-
ment of social security con-
tributions.
Ferry crews walk off the job
on Wednesday and Thurs-
day — their second 48-hour
strike in a week — while
lawyers are also on strike.
State hospital employees
scuffled with police out-
side the finance ministry
Tuesday, and thousands
of workers took part in two
peaceful evening marches
to Parliament, called by
the civil servants’ union
and a Communist-affiliat-
ed group.q