Schengen 'not functioning': Right-wing French mayor
The right-wing mayor of the French city of Maisons-Laffitte, Jacques Myard, has dismissed the Schengen agreement, describing it as "utopian" and "not functioning."
The Schengen agreement needs to be revised with more European countries taking control of their own borders, Myard said in an interview in the northwestern suburb of Paris on Thursday.
Myard was a former member of the National Assembly and a candidate for the right-wing in the 2017 French presidential election.
“We should restore the internal control at our borders, this is why I do believe that the Schengen agreement should be revisited on a more realistic basis than this utopian principle of having a free-zone without any control at the internal borders,” he said.
Myard complained that many features set up in the European Union's initial structure were not working properly. He said the present situation in Europe is a sign of a bleak future on the continent.
"It is very true that today not only Schengen but many aspects of the European construction are not functioning properly and this is why I am very pessimistic on the future of Europe," he continued.
He said the French government has already started resuming strict controls on its borders.
France has been the target of frequent terrorist attacks, together killing more citizens than sporadic attacks in other European countries.
A series of terrorist raids in November 2015 alone killed some 130 people and led the government of the then-President Francois Hollande to introduce a state of emergency to expand the powers of security forces. The state of emergency has since been extended five times.
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