The coronavirus pandemic has triggered an unprecedented chain reaction of border closures around the world. Even most of the 26 countries in the Schengen area reinstated border controls in an effort to halt the virus.
When passports and all other types of border control were officially abolished 25 years ago as part of the Schengen Agreement, many of Europe’s border guards were re-assigned to the EU’s external borders or given other responsibilities inside their own member states. As a result, governments suddenly found themselves under enormous pressure when the pandemic hit, as they struggled to hastily reapply border infrastructure that has not existed in any real operational sense for decades.