The EU must strengthen its internal and external borders to counter the threat of extremism, Emmanuel Macron said yesterday during a visit to his country’s frontier with Spain.
The French president “is calling for a rethink on free movement in the EU after a spate of suspected Islamist terror attacks”, the BBC reports.
“I am in favour of a deep overhaul of Schengen,” Macron said, referring to the system of free movement between 26 European countries without passports, identity cards or border checks. The EU must “rethink its organisation” and “strengthen our common border security with a proper border force”, he added.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“Europe is reeling from two attacks in the past week that involved assailants who moved freely between Schengen member states,” Reuters reports.
On Monday, a gunman killed four people in Vienna, after travelling to Slovakia in July to buy ammunition. And the man who killed three people in a church in Nice last Thursday had travelled from Tunisia to Italy via the island of Lampedusa before crossing into France a few days before the attack.
“Macron said the recent attacks were a warning to Europe that ‘the terrorist risk is everywhere’,” the Daily Mail reports.
The French leader - who has spoken of a clash between radical Islam and the West - said he would unilaterally double the size of his country’s border force from 2,400 to 4,800 officers. France reimposed border controls after the 2015 Bataclan attacks, under an exception from the Schengen Agreement.
Macron “also wants the EU to have a single asylum policy to end the rows that have paralysed its policymaking during a years-long migrant crisis”, Reuters adds.
-
‘But being a “hot” country does not make you a good country’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Why have homicide rates reportedly plummeted in the last year?Today’s Big Question There could be more to the issue than politics
-
Magazine printables - January 30, 2026Puzzle and Quizzes Magazine printables - January 30, 2026
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
‘Lumpy skin’ protests intensify across France as farmers fight cullIN THE SPOTLIGHT A bovine outbreak coupled with ongoing governmental frustrations is causing major problems for French civil society
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
