Sixteen leaders out of the EU 28 rushed to Brussels on Sunday afternoon, following an invitation by the European Commission spoken on behalf of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Aim of the emergency mini summit that turned into a medium size summit was to seek ways for common solution on Migration.
At the end of Sunday they had agreed that they cannot agree on an overall solution of the problem, which is right now a problem between Merkel and his sister coalition party Bavarian CSU, as the Bavarian party demands stricter controls at the borders and claims the right to push away migrants trying to enter Bavaria in South Germany.
Merkel had arrived at European Commission headquarters stressing the need for “bilateral or trilateral agreements,” in the absence of a broader consensus among all 28 EU nations, which she plainly declared did not yet exist.
“Wherever possible we want to find European solutions, where this is not possible we want to bring those who are willing together and develop a common framework for action,” Merkel said as she left the summit.
Other leaders were more blunt about the lack of any concrete outcome.
- Spain Pedro Sanchez: “Everyone agreed on the need to have a European vision.”
Germany Angela Merkel: “We all agree that we have to stop illegal immigration and that we have to secure our borders, and that we are all responsible for all topics. It can’t be that some countries only care about primary migration, and others about secondary migration.”
Italia Giuseppe Conte, arrived declaring he would deliver a “completely new proposal,” left without addressing the press.
“A completely new Italian proposal based on the new resolution paradigm to solve the migration issue. It’s called the European Multi-Level Strategy for Migration, articulated on six premises and ten objectives. It’s aimed at proposing a timely regulation and management policy to control migration flows that is truly effective and sustainable.”
The new proposal demands EU member states accept their share of economic migrants entering the bloc through Italian shares or face a reduction of EU money.
Other leaders said his proposal, which focused on easing the burden of frontier countries, was well-received but would require more study.
Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, lending support to Italy as a fellow frontier country, urged leaders to recognize that secondary movement — in which asylum seekers cross internal EU borders after making their initial application — is not a concern for Greece. “Our northern borders are unilaterally closed,” he said inside the meeting, according to a Greek official.
Belgium Charles Michel: “What is important for Belgium are controlling the external borders of the European Union. This is a prerequisite to safe the free movement of people in the Schengen zone. The second important point today is to make clear what the potential conditions are for hotspots and reception centers in line with international law. The third point is that it is very important to get an agreement on Dublin to guarantee solidarity and responsibility.
- Austria Sebastian Kurz: “The issue is still not solved.”
The failure to an agreement among the 16 EU leaders did not hinder Commission officials “from quickly summarizing Sunday’s discussion into a potpourri of policy proposals and firing off an e-mail message at 9:18 p.m, urging the European Council to rewrite its draft conclusions on migration for the formal leaders’ Summit” on 28-29 June.
sources: politico.eu, reuters,
There will probably be no “European” solutions. There will be solutions which in the end Brussels determines and imposes on the the countries of the EU. The sooner this artificial, pernicious organization (EU) breaks up the better for all in evolved. Has only benefited Germany really.
It’s fascinating to see what the EU is really doing here, led (again) by the nose to Germany’s will.
Greece, a tiny country of ~11M people, bears the brunt of the mass migration of the third world for the EU, and still contributes more as a percentage of GDP to its military budget than any other EU member country. Despite 50%+ youth unemployment, a GDP that’s been halved since 2008, and substantially increased poverty, Greeks still find it within themselves to give to those who don’t have as much. Greeks take care of the migrants, as well as protect EU borders from Turkey who illegally occupies an EU member nation and violates its sovereign borders daily. For this, Greece should be not only commended, but should be assisted by the EU.
But is Greece going to get help? Not a chance. Despite having a highly educated workforce, Germany would rather have non-EU migrants than Greece’s citizens “work” in their country to offset their declining birth rate in their propped-up economy. They would also like Greece (and Italy) to simply accept all of these migrants without a plan to repatriate them in the future. How can Greece possibly shoulder this burden unassisted? Furthermore, how can Greece possibly deal with Turkey who would destroy Greece by letting loose millions of these migrants into Greece?
This is why Dublin is a total farce, a “not in my backyard” slap to Greece, Italy and all the other EU frontier states. It can’t be allowed to continue. Enough is enough. Get the EU military at the borders of Greece, Italy, Spain, Malta, and Cyprus, and take care of these problems once and for all. Otherwise, there is no EU, and Greece should consider its alternatives.