World News for Students of English

16-09-2024 15:00

The future of the Schengen Area, a border-free zone uniting 420 million people, is under threat due to recent events in Germany and Hungary.

A Syrian national’s attack in Germany has reignited migration debates and pushed Chancellor Olaf Scholz to introduce stricter border checks. Hungary has threatened to send irregular migrants to Belgium in response to an EU fine, which raised tensions. Internal border controls, contrary to Schengen’s purpose, have increased since 2015, particularly due to increasing migration and the COVID-19 pandemic. Border checks were meant to be temporary; however, countries like Austria continue to implement them. Critics argue that these measures are largely symbolic and ineffective at reducing irregular migration.

The European Commission has urged countries to stop such controls, but some countries resist. Though Schengen is not collapsing yet, recent developments have shown that maintaining a truly borderless area is more challenging than once thought.

Difficult words: reignite (to make something active again), contrary (the opposite), symbolic (an action that expresses an intention or feeling but has little practical influence on a situation).

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