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Le Bertus (France) – French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that he will double the number of security forces deployed on the French border, from 2,400 to 4,800 soldiers, to combat the threat of terrorism, smuggling and illegal immigration.
Macron said during his visit to the Franco-Spanish border at Le Bertos point, that the decision to double the number of troops was made “due to the high number of threats” after the Nice attack.
French investigations previously revealed that the perpetrator of the terrorist operation in Nice, in which three people were killed, was an illegal immigrant who had infiltrated France via Italy the day before the incident.
Macron referred to the Austrian attack, saying: “The threat of terrorism can come from anywhere, including agents sent from abroad.”
In a related context, Macron expressed his support for the reconstruction of the Schengen area “in depth”, and called on the countries of the European Union to “redesign the Schengen Treaty and strengthen border protection.”
Macron said: “I urgently call for the reconstruction of Schengen and stricter control” of the borders, and indicated that he will take “in this direction the first proposals to the European Council in December.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had stated that he separates migration from terrorism, because the battle is the battle of the whole world, adding that France is waging a war against terrorism in cooperation with its European partners and the Maghreb countries, and it is better not to rush to link immigration and terrorism because the latter “affects everyone.”
Le Drian said in an exclusive interview with French radio “Europe 1” on Thursday that “those who ask to stop immigration in France completely forget that the victims of terrorism are everywhere in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria,” and noted that “the threat is considered global”.
He remarked that currently there is a border control, without a doubt, that has not been properly implemented, “but I do not link terrorism with immigration.
Macron called on French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan to visit Tunisia and Algeria this week to address the issue of fighting terrorism and expelling foreign extremists.
France has recently witnessed a series of attacks, after controversies between her and Turkey on the one hand, and between her and the Arab countries on the other hand, in the context of cartoons in which these countries saw an insult to the prophet Muhammad.
