Between the French (Interior Minister Cazeneuve: "we're face with a new kind of terrorism", and Hungary (PM Orban: "allowing people into our own back yard" who may then commit acts of terrorism was irresponsible), AP reports that the EU's founding treaty with regard to passport-free travel - the so-called Schengen Agreement - is to be reformed. "We want Europe, which has lost too much time on a certain number of questions, to note the urgency and take decisions today," exclaimed Cazeneuve, with Orban adding "the founding treaty is currently an obstacle to this and I believe it needs to be reconsidered." According to Cazeneuve, the reforms will happen by year-end.

AP reports The Schengen Agreement is to be reformed..

*EU SEEKING CHANGE TO PASSPORT-FREE BORDER AREA RULES, AP SAYS

EU ministers have agreed to carry out more stringent controls at the bloc's external borders, in response to the attacks in Paris last week, says Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider.

Member states must fully apply the rules of the border-free Schengen zone to carry out systematic controls on EU citizens at the bloc's external borders, he says, adding, "It's not an option, it's an obligation." The bloc's internal and justice ministers have also requested a strengthening of the existing Schengen rules, he adds. The move is one of several aimed at "considerably reinforcing our tools in the fight against terrorism," Schneider says.

With The French pushing hard...

*CAZENEUVE: WE'RE FACED WITH A NEW TYPE OF TERRORISM

*CAZENEUVE: FRANCE TO KEEP CONTROLS AS LONG AS THREAT REMAINS

*CAZENEUVE: DRAFT SCHENGEN REFORM PLAN SEEN BY YEAR END

On one hand, “we cannot close Europe,” de Maizière said in an interview on Friday with the Washington Post.

But on the other hand, “we cannot open Europe totally for millions and millions of poor people in the world or even for all of those coming from conflict zones. Impossible,” he stated, calling for a change to the European refugee system. Berlin intends to slash cash benefits to refugees, providing them with food instead, and engage in a “reunification of families” practice, promising “years” of efforts to those who would like to bring their relatives to Germany after settling there with refugee status. “The number is too big,” the official said. “It has to be checked.”

And as MTI reports, Hungary's Orban is calling for more aggressive external borders also...

The European Union's founding treaty should be reconsidered, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after meeting Macedonian counterpart Nikola Gruevski on Friday. The prime minister said European should face up to the fact that migrants come from areas involved in military conflict with EU members. "We are considered enemies in those countries, and the acts of terror committed in our areas are considered war successes over there", he said, adding that "allowing people into our own back yard" who may then commit acts of terrorism was irresponsible. The EU should protect its borders, culture, economic interests and its democracy, Orban said. "The founding treaty is currently an obstacle to this and I believe it needs to be reconsidered," Orban said. In order to make Europe effective, basic questions need to be reevaluated, he added. It is increasingly obvious that the EU is capable only of responding to crises rather than taking preventive measures. Citing the Paris terror attacks, he said it was only afterwards that European politicians started assigning security its proper role.

Orban said it was the British who first pushed the issue in connection with the EU's founding treaty, and they want to make changes to European regulations that will be impossible without amending them.

In response to a query about whether he considered the Schengen system dead, similarly to the Dublin agreement, he said "Dublin is dead, Schengen is alive". An increasing number of EU countries neglect the Dublin agreement but everybody is trying to uphold Schengen because if it fails then "walls and fences will rise and border controls will be put in place between countries where they have not been used." The possibility of free travel between Schengen members needs to be maintained, and this is only possible if external Schengen borders are protected, he added. "One should either be a Schengen member and protect its borders or if they do not protect the borders, they should not be a Schengen member," Orban said.

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As we detailed repviously, on The Future of Schengen