http://www.euronews.com/
President Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened to pull France out of the
European Union's visa-free Schengen zone unless the bloc beefs up the
EU's borders.
Sarkozy raised the immigration issue at a campaign rally as polls show he faces a tough battle for re-election in April and May.
"The
Schengen agreement no longer lets us respond to the seriousness of the
situation. It needs revising. We have to put into force for Schengen a
reform that is as structural as the one we have just put in place for
the Euro. We cannot leave managing the flow of migrants to the
technocrats and courts," President Sarkozy told supporters in Paris.
Centrist leader and presidential rival Francois Bayrou was quick to react:
"What
does it mean to pull out off Schengen? I will tell you, it means to put
in place once again the barriers and the borders and the customs
officers between France and Spain, France and Italy, and between France
and Germany can you believe it?"
Critics say Sarkozy 's proposal
is aimed at trying to siphon off support from the extreme right,
National-Front candidate Marine Le Pen who is snapping at his heals.
Most
of the candidates including front runner Socialist Francois Hollande
have in recent weeks tapped into French concerns over illegal
immigration - concerns which have grown as the country struggles against
recession.
