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Schengen ain't what it used to be

savageevan.com

11–20 of 69 posts

Re: Schengen ain't what it used to be

#11

As a Dane living in Denmark, I don’t think it’s a big problem. We don’t show passports when entering Germany, only when returning to Denmark. And several times, if I forgot my passport, a driver’s license has been sufficient. Passport control is not really, if I have to be direct, aimed at the locals. Unfortunately, Schengen has made it easy for organized crime. On the simpler end, for example, bicycle theft, cargo b…

> We don’t show passports when entering Germany

A FlixBus coming from Denmark is likely to be checked in Flensburg.

Re: Schengen ain't what it used to be

#12
> And yet, since we moved to Denmark 3 years ago, every time we've returned to Denmark through Padborg, we've been met by border control

Sorry, but that's just business as usual. Document checks on trains have continued to be a thing despite Schengen since its inception, and are even common on commuter lines. I don't have any hard numbers on their effectiveness, but it's not unusual to see people being detained as a result (which is risky for the detaining agency, as mistakes are quite costly), so I guess there is a net positive there?

Note that, from a passenger PoV, these checks usually consist of "vaguely waving your ID card at the officers passing by" (i.e. less effort than having your ticket checked, which involves interaction with an RFID scanner...), which makes this ominous think-piece even less convincing.

Re: Schengen ain't what it used to be

#13

Anecdotal, but: this is probably more of a Denmark thing and not a Schengen thing. I recently crossed French, Dutch, German, and Polish borders on 4 separate trips and had no checks.

We crossed Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Hungary and were checked when entering Austria and Germany. However this was just but a small inconvenience- we waited over three hours to enter Hungary from non-Schengen country on almost 40 degrees Celsius in a car. Compared to that, Schengen (still) is a godsend.

Re: Schengen ain't what it used to be

#15

Well yes internal borders work fine when external borders are taken seriously, not when countries are pretty much forced to accept anyone thanks to human trafficking orgs and lax regulation imagined for war times not for "my country sucks" type of problem. > And yet: countries like Denmark are safer and more prosperous than ever before. Maybe ask the Swedes about how things are going there (apart from internet hyperb…

There are very serious checks, what are you talking about?

Re: Schengen ain't what it used to be

#16
post #7

I always find it ironic how Denmark is proud of Vikings and protects borders at the same time. There’re axes on border guards’ uniforms. Also, the traffic lights have a viking with an axe instead of a regular figure. Yet Vikings were universally hated back in the day for not respecting borders.

"Not respecting borders" is an odd way to summarize indiscriminate killing of unarmed people, burning houses and crops, robbery, raping and forcing people into slavery including sex slavery.

I mean, everyone was doing it once in a while back then. But Vikings were probably one of the worst offenders.

Re: Schengen ain't what it used to be

#17

Well yes internal borders work fine when external borders are taken seriously, not when countries are pretty much forced to accept anyone thanks to human trafficking orgs and lax regulation imagined for war times not for "my country sucks" type of problem. > And yet: countries like Denmark are safer and more prosperous than ever before. Maybe ask the Swedes about how things are going there (apart from internet hyperb…

Personally, I think you illustrate well my main issue with the EU, which is that I have to live in the same political entity as the bloody racists in the north and the east.

Still seem worth it overall nevertheless especially considering I already have to live with our local grown racists here anyway.

Re: Schengen ain't what it used to be

#18
post #15

Well yes internal borders work fine when external borders are taken seriously, not when countries are pretty much forced to accept anyone thanks to human trafficking orgs and lax regulation imagined for war times not for "my country sucks" type of problem. > And yet: countries like Denmark are safer and more prosperous than ever before. Maybe ask the Swedes about how things are going there (apart from internet hyperb…

There are very serious checks, what are you talking about?

Where is evidence for very serious checks?

Re: Schengen ain't what it used to be

#19
Checking IDs is the standard model in the US along the border states in the south (don't know about the north).

My earliest border police checkpoint was in '87, south east of Phoenix on the way to LA. My buddies from Las Cruces always use to remind us to carry your ids, but then they used to do the beer runs across the border as it was cheaper.

Who here think embedded ID chip is not coming - you know, to save labor costs

Re: Schengen ain't what it used to be

#20

As a Dane living in Denmark, I don’t think it’s a big problem. We don’t show passports when entering Germany, only when returning to Denmark. And several times, if I forgot my passport, a driver’s license has been sufficient. Passport control is not really, if I have to be direct, aimed at the locals. Unfortunately, Schengen has made it easy for organized crime. On the simpler end, for example, bicycle theft, cargo b…

>There is no control when you drive out of the country (possibly with stolen goods), and there is no round-the-clock passport control at all border crossings.

The modern EU economy can't function if you were to thoroughly check every single vehicle transiting a border. The costs to the economy would far outpace whatever some Eastern Europe Rroma thieves can steal from someone's back yard, nor do I wish to be checked every single time I cross a border just because I might have a stolen bike in my trunk. Imagine how US's economy would be if they had border checks between states.

Also, EU border checks when they are in place, are mostly restricted to the major roads, but small country roads at borders have no checks, so the truly bad people wishing to cause harm have so many ways of crossing the porous EU border undetected, while the innocent Average Joe has to be stuck in border checks for hours.

So the hole EU border checks thing is just a security theater anyway, causing economic harm and frustration just to look tough for the right wing voters but brining no actual security benefit, except for catching the really really dumb criminals.

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