The European Union cites freedom of movement as one of its fundamental values. To this end, a system has been created that guarantees free movement throughout the territory of the Member States, without border crossings, the display of passports and customs duties. This system is considered one of the greatest achievements of the European Union. In recent years, according to the United Nations, there are more people in exile than ever. High pressure on EU members whose external borders form the European Union's external border, has resulted in the reluctant acceptance of refugees and migrants, or the complete closure of borders. Some countries were in favor of reform even before the crisis, but due to countries that were not ready to accept migrants at all, the European Commission's proposals for system reform failed. The purpose of this paper is to find out how adequate the European Union's response to this crisis was, or whether the closure of the internal borders of the Schengen area resulted in a crisis of one of the greatest achievements of the European Union. Deportations, refusals, border closures, lack of information and conflicts at the EU's external and internal borders are clear indications that the system is not up to the task. Insufficiently rapid and inadequate reactions of member states only inflamed this crisis and deepened the gap between the domicile population and refugees.