Brexit in Bern: EU immigration row heats up as Switzerland threatens to leave Schengen area
Switzerland is threatening to leave the Schengen zone if the EU countries that are part of the visa treaty move to strengthen their border force Frontex, which Brussels is pushing for.
Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard, is the collective term for national border and coast guard forces within the EU’s Schengen Area, as well as the EU’s own agency. Headquartered in Warsaw, the EU agency runs its own operations in coordination with national police forces.
The EU wants to give Frontex a much bigger say in immigration and border issues, but the Swiss are reluctant to move ahead and threaten to reject the plan via a referendum, multiple Swiss media outlets report this week.
Karin Kellel, the Swiss Federal Councilor in charge of the Federal Department of Justice and Police, has warned the European Union Ministers of the Interior that Switzerland may be forced to leave the Schengen area if her population reject a more powerful Frontex in a referendum, to be held this May.
“If there is a no to Frontex, it is clear that we will have to leave the Schengen area.”
Karin Kellel
As a member country of Schengen, but not the EU, Switzerland has contributed to the funding and structure of Frontex since 2009. The agency has a budget of around €364m, but the EU has doubled that to €754m this year.=
As a result, Switzerland’s contribution is anticipated to climb from CHF 24 million in 2021 to CHF 61 million in 2027. Switzerland joined Schengen in 2004.
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