“France will close its borders for several weeks” before next month’s U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Friday.
The move, which Cazeneuve explained in the “context of a terrorist threat or risk of disruption to public order,” does not mean that people cannot come into France from other European countries during this period, but rather that they can enter only after being subjected to stricter border control measures.
The move is significant, given the Schengen treaty, which mandates open borders around Europe. Cazeneuve told CNN affiliate BFMTV that France won’t be violating this agreement because signatories, like France, can take such measures for “particular circumstances.”
The stricter border control measures also reflect France’s present-day concerns about terror attacks or other threats.