From 1 August 2024, Switzerland will begin contributing to a fund supporting the protection of the borders of the Schengen zone, a group of European nations with combined land borders of 8,000 km and sea borders of 43,000 km, reported RTS.
A total of CHF 300 million has been budgeted to cover the period between 2021 and 2027. The money is a contribution to strengthening external border protection of the Schengen zone and to prevent illegal entry, said the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). The sum is calculated based on national GDP.
During the same period, Switzerland is expected to receive around CHF 50 million from the fund. These funds will be used to put in place new EU information systems for monitoring entry and exist across the zone. Some of this money is also to be used to expand border control infrastructure at Zurich Airport.
The Schengen zone includes 25 EU nations (all of the 27 except Romania and Bulgaria) and the four nations of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The microstates of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City are also effectively part of the zone.
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