The European Commission is set to outline controversial plans for an EU border and coast guard force as part of efforts to curb the record influx of migrants.
The commission is proposing a force with a stronger mandate than the EU’s current Frontex border teams but some governments see the powers as violating national sovereignty.
Poland said that it will oppose any move to send in EU border guards without the host country’s approval.
The commission is also proposing to resettle Syrian refugees directly from camps in Turkey to try to stop people taking the dangerous voyage by sea.
Frontex, an EU agency based in Poland, is already poised to send border guards to Greece, where almost 800,000 migrants arrived by sea this year. Most of them are refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Frontex said that its role is to help enforce border controls, but the deployed officers work “under the command and control of the authorities” in the host country.
The deployment on the Greek islands near Turkey will boost the number of land and sea patrols, meaning more migrants will be identified and properly registered, a Frontex statement said.
The migrant crisis had undermined the authority of Schengen, because several EU states, among them Germany, Austria and Hungary have re-imposed border controls.
Beefing up security on the EU’s external borders is seen as a way to ensure the survival of Schengen.
