Travelling within Europe could become much more difficult in the next two years

Restrictions could soon be put in place in an area of Europe known as the Schengen zone.

Officials from the 28 member states of the European Union are due to meet in Brussels for a second day today to discuss the introduction of travel restrictions in an area of the continent known as the Schengen zone over the next two years. Proposals have been put forward to introduce passport controls into the zone, which comprises of 26 EU member states that have abolished passport and border controls at internal borders within the zone. Ireland and the United Kingdom, both isolated from the Schengen zone by sea, are not included. The idea behind introducing the travel restrictions is to control the growing migrant and refugee crisis in Europe at the moment, but according to Associated Press, four member states in Eastern Europe are strongly against the idea. The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia issued a joint statement saying that "any open or hidden attempts to limit free movement" inside the European Union were unacceptable. They also launched a "Friends of Schengen" initiative at a meeting in Prague with the aim of keeping the passport-free travel zone intact. Officials from member states will also discuss a German initiative to resettle hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees from Turkey over the next few years.