Sir, – President Trump has failed to build his long-promised border wall.
Perhaps he should ask the European Union how to do it.
In March 2016, the EU agreed to pay €3 billion to Turkey if that country stopped the flow of Syrian refugees to Europe.
This was six months after Angela Merkel announced that those fleeing civil war were welcome in Germany; it won't be easy, she said, but "Wir schaffen das" (We can do it).
The entire 911km border between Turkey and Syria has now been sealed with seven-ton concrete blocks, two metres wide and three metres high, topped with one metre of razor wire.
The wall is the second-longest structure in the world, after the Great Wall of China.
Far from celebrating this remarkable construction, Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, harshly criticises “those who wish to build walls rather than bridges. In Europe, we celebrate when walls are brought down and bridges are built”. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Vienna.