France urges EU to step up security checks on Syrian passports after Paris attacks
FRANCE has demanded the EU increases security checks on Syrian passports after it was revealed that two of the Paris attackers were carrying false documents.
The French interior minister said increased border control was necessary after the Paris attacks
Bernard Cazeneuve, the French interior minister, said increased border control was necessary after the Paris attacks revealed how extremists are exploiting the migrant crisis in Europe.
Mr Cazeneuve said: "[The attacks] unfortunately showed that some terrorists are trying to get into our countries and commit criminal acts by mixing in with the flow of migrants and refugees.
"The checks of travel documents presented by refugees at the external borders of the EU are an extremely significant and worrying issue."
The minister revealed that two of the suicide bombers, who detonated their explosives outside the Stade de France national stadium on November 13, were carrying fake Syrian passports.
It is believed the blank passports in circulation have been stolen from administrative facilities in areas overrun by Islamic State extremists.
In a letter to the European Commission Mr Cazeneuve urged the EU to improve the quality of the equipment used to check travel documents at external borders.
France has demanded the EU increases security checks on Syrian passports
[The attacks] unfortunately showed that some terrorists are trying to get into our countries
He added that increased checks were particularly needed in Greece and Italy, as the passports had been used to enter Greece in October.
The minister also urged Brussels to allow border control to check the documents against a databases of stolen or lost passports compiled by Interpol as fake documents are hard to detect.
Cazeneuve's call for increased security comes after Scotland Yard issued a stark warned that British cities are vulnerable to terror attacks.
ISIS video in English threatening UK for being part of ‘coalition of devils’
Two of the Paris attackers were carrying fake Syrian passports
Yesterday Metropolitan Police sources revealed that major towns and cities outside London are unprepared in the event that jihadi fanatics attempt a Paris-style massacre.
The dire warning comes after one police sharpshooter said the British public was wildly over confident about the authorities' ability to stop Islamist gunmen, even claiming that many forces are “not equipped to deal with active shooters”.