EU seeks tighter checks to keep out Russian spies

The EU must tighten visa norms and border security to keep out Russian spies, the bloc’s home affairs commissioner said Friday. Ylva Johansson, who oversees the EU’s internal security policy, said Russian President Vladimir Putin “would…like to destroy the European Union…he is afraid of us”. “We need stricter checks on visa application and greater security at our borders,” she told a conference in Athens on the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion. A new updated Schengen information system will come into force on March 7, Johansson said, referring to Europe’s passport-free zone spanning 27 nations. “Today, only half of those entering the European Union on a visa are being checked against the Schengen information system. That means we have a lot of Russians that are not being checked,” she said. Biometric checks are needed in case agents use false passports, she said, noting that some 400 Russian spies had been expelled from the EU last year. “We are a huge threat to Putin because we have democracy,” Johansson said. Bulgaria and Romania should be included in Schengen this year to contribute to police information sharing, the commissioner said. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.