French president Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday threatened to wreck the European free travel zone unless there is a new pact to cut down on illegal immigration.
His warning in an election campaign speech threw a question mark over the future of the Schengen zone, regarded by Brussels as the EU’s second most important achievement after the single currency.
The 25 Schengen countries allow travellers to pass each other’s borders without checks or the need for visas.
But a wave of immigrants who began arriving in Italy and southern Europe following the Arab Spring last year has put the 27-year-old zone under unprecedented pressure.
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