Emmanuel Macron traveled on Thursday to the Perthus Pass, the main border crossing between Spain and France in the Pyrénées-Orientales, to announce the strengthening of border control forces in the fight against illegal immigration and terrorism.
Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday a doubling of the forces controlling France’s borders, from 2,400 to 4,800, to combat the terrorist threat, human trafficking, and illegal immigration. This doubling was decided “due to the intensification of the threat” following the attack in Nice.
One week after the attack in Nice, in which three people lost their lives, the head of state came to speak with the security forces who check vehicles entering French territory. A border police officer (PAF) demonstrated a drone that monitored the border.
“My responsibility is to protect the French people. From day one, I have devoted all my energy to this. The mobilization of all state actors is total,” he tweeted.
Accompanied by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, he visited the Police and Customs Cooperation Center (CCPD) in Perthus.
About 35,000 vehicles cross the highway and the road over the pass daily between the towns of Perthus in France and La Jonquera in Spain.
Spain is one of the main gateways for illegal immigrants to France, coming via the coast from North Africa. More than 4,000 migrants have been turned back in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the last three months, twice as many as usual, according to a PAF officer. Some of them were Algerians attempting to enter France.
Resumption of the debate after the attacks in Nice and Vienna
The issue of border control was raised again after the terrorist attack in Nice, whose alleged perpetrator was a young Tunisian who had illegally entered Europe a few days earlier in Lampedusa (Italy). The alleged attacker in Monday’s Vienna attack, in which four people were killed, is a sympathizer of the jihadist group “Islamic State,” according to Slovak intelligence reports to Vienna.
Emmanuel Macron had called on Tuesday for a joint European response against terrorism. The recent attacks have revealed gaps in cooperation among the 27 EU countries, especially in the intelligence field.