France mocks Britain over Dover chaos - urging them to ask the EU to join Schengen

France mocks Britain over Dover chaos - urging them to ask the EU to join Schengen
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Aden-Jay Wood

By Aden-Jay Wood


Published: 25/07/2022

- 13:13

Updated: 25/07/2022

- 14:19

UK officials have blamed France for the chaos with delay warnings continuing on Monday

France has mocked Britain over the travel chaos at Dover, saying the UK should ask the European Union to let them join the Schengen.

Queues built up at Dover again on this morning amid fears that the severe disruption seen in recent days could return to Kent throughout the summer.


Ferry operator DFDS told passengers that there were “queues of around an hour” for French border checks and to “allow a minimum of 120 minutes before your departure to complete all controls”.

P&O Ferries wrote on Twitter: “The queues have picked up and it is taking approximately one hour to clear passport control.”

Cars queue at the check-in at the Port of Dover in Kent as many families embark on getaways following the start of summer holidays for many schools in England and Wales. Picture date: Saturday July 23, 2022.
Chaotic scenes at Dover in recent days
Gareth Fuller

Cars queue at the check-in at the Port of Dover in Kent as many families embark on getaways following the start of summer holidays for many schools in England and Wales. Picture date: Saturday July 23, 2022.
UK officials have blamed France for the delays
Gareth Fuller

Several UK officials, including Liz Truss and Jacob Rees Mogg, have blamed France for the delays.

But vice president of the Haute-de-France region Francois Decoster has hit back, saying: “Brexit means we must do new controls.

“I have felt very sorry for the families, we like to welcome British tourists and we want them to come easily to our beautiful places.

“We have a few non-EU members who are members of Schengen, why don't we explore such an idea?”

He added: “Next weekend will be the busiest weekend of the year and this situation cannot happen again.

“When I saw the scenes yesterday it reminded me of when I had to cross the border between Hungary and Romania in 1992.

“30 years ago, before these countries joined the EU. I consider that in Europe that such images don't belong to this time, they belong to an old epoch.

“I don't know if you have to stamp the passport, but I regret that we have to use passports again. This is something that should be removed.

“This is not what I call progress. This is the opposite of progress. This is not what we want for Europe.

“We want to see freedom of movement. Unfortunately we need more controls," as quoted by the Mail Online.

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