The Council of the European Union on has given its approval to a three-month extension of border controls at several key frontiers in the Schengen area due to the threat of more migrants.
The recommendation for the extension of internal border controls due to exceptional circumstances was made by the European Commission on 25 January and was formally given the green light on Tuesday by the EU Council of Ministers for General Affairs.
The land borders of Austria with Hungary and Slovenia, Germany with Austria and Denmark with Germany will retain additional border controls.
Controls will also be extended in Danish ports with ferry connections to Germany, in the western and southern ports of Sweden, as well as the Öresund bridge, as well as in Norwegian ports with ferry connections to Denmark, Germany and To Sweden.
These countries were already authorised to control the borders until February 12, and this period should now be extended until May.
For Brussels, there still seems to be no way to fully re-open all the internal borders of the Schengen area.
"A significant number of irregular migrants and asylum seekers still remain in Greece and the situation remains fragile on the Western Balkans route, which carries a potential risk of secondary movements," the Commission said in a statement.
The European Union also is to extend the Schengen area to Cape Verde but its Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva said on Tuesday that there was "a lack of willingness" on the part of the European authorities to extend the European free-trade Shemngen area to the country
"It is an initiative that we want to carry forward but there is an incompatibility with the idea. Obviously this is a path that must be taken," said Ulisses Correia e Silva.
"Cape Verde is preparing to allow its borders to be opened in relation to the visa exemption for citizens of the Schengen area under conditions that are being studied so that we can enter full mobility later," he continued.
On Saturday, at the congress of the Movement for Democracy, José Inácio Faria, MEP and president of the Partido de la Terra Movement, called for the extension of the European free space to Cabo Verde, asking for the commitment of Portuguese MEPs in this process.
