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European Commission President Calls for Continent to Take In 160,000 Refugees European Commission President Calls for Continent to Take In 160,000 Refugees
(about 1 hour later)
BRUSSELS — The European Union must manage the unprecedented numbers of migrants arriving at its borders or face a growing threat to its own existence, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, warned on Wednesday. BRUSSELS — The European Union must manage the increasing numbers of migrants arriving at its borders or face a growing threat to its existence, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, warned on Wednesday.
Mr. Juncker, a former prime minister of Luxembourg who runs the day-to-day affairs of the European Union, delivered his first annual State of the European Union speech in Strasbourg, France, amid acute concerns about the large numbers of migrants who have made harrowing journeys to Europe.Mr. Juncker, a former prime minister of Luxembourg who runs the day-to-day affairs of the European Union, delivered his first annual State of the European Union speech in Strasbourg, France, amid acute concerns about the large numbers of migrants who have made harrowing journeys to Europe.
The centerpiece of Mr. Juncker’s speech was his formal announcement of an emergency plan that would be binding on the majority of member states to spread the burden of accommodating 160,000 refugees who had arrived in countries like Hungary, Italy and Greece by sending them to other member states. The centerpiece of Mr. Juncker’s speech to the European Parliament was his formal announcement of an emergency plan, which would be binding on the majority of member states, to spread the burden of accommodating 160,000 refugees in Greece, Hungary and Italy, many of whom are believed to be fleeing war in the Middle East and Africa.
European governments have been squabbling over how to house and feed the migrants, how to process their asylum claims and, most crucially, how many they should accept. European governments have been squabbling over how to deal with asylum seekers, and Mr. Juncker’s comments matched a theme expressed by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who earlier in the day repeated her call for European leaders to reach a binding agreement on the distribution of refugees throughout the bloc.
“The bell tolls, the time has come,” Mr. Juncker told the lawmakers. “We have to look at the huge issues with which the European Union is now confronted” because it’s “not in a good situation,” he said. “The bell tolls, the time has come,” Mr. Juncker told the European Parliament. “We have to look at the huge issues with which the European Union is now confronted” because it’s “not in a good situation,” he said.
There is “a lack of union in this European Union,” he said. “That has to change.” There is “a lack of union in this European Union,” he continued. “That has to change.”
Mr. Juncker used his platform to denounce leaders of some European Union member states who have offered little more than xenophobic responses, and he said that welcoming more young migrants would help the economy, rather than damaging it, by adding young workers to the bloc’s aging work force. Opposition to the emergency plan arose almost immediately after Mr. Juncker ended his address. “Let’s work out what each country can do to help those fleeing for their lives,” Syed Kamall, the leader of the British Conservative Party in the European Parliament, told other lawmakers.
He highlighted efforts of countries like Lebanon and Jordan to accommodate a larger numbers of migrants than their richer European neighbors, and he appealed to Europeans to recall the experiences of their predecessors who had sought refuge from religious persecution, war and famine. “But let’s be clear: Telling countries what to do, forcing a plan on them, only risks more finger-pointing,” Mr. Kamall said. “It might make some of you feel better, but I fear it could actually make the crisis worse.”
Mr. Juncker asked home affairs ministers to approve his plan to accept 160,000 refugees at their next meeting, on Sept. 14. Mr. Juncker used his speech to denounce leaders of some European Union member states who have been unwelcoming to migrants, and he said that welcoming more migrants would help the economy, rather than damage it, by adding young workers to the bloc’s aging work force.
“That’s the number that Europeans have to take in charge and have to take in their arms,” Mr. Juncker said. “Action is what is needed for the time being,” he continued, adding that the sight of people sleeping in railway stations and on beaches was unacceptable and must be addressed as winter approaches. He highlighted efforts of countries like Lebanon and Jordan to accommodate a larger numbers of migrants than their richer European neighbors. He appealed to Europeans to remember the experiences of their ancestors who sought refuge from religious persecution, war and famine, and noted that Europe would have to address the root causes of crisis.
There is no guarantee that ministers will accept that plan. European Union leaders failed to agree on far more modest quotas at a summit meeting in June, and many governments must contend with populist or anti-immigrant forces gaining support. “Let us be clear and honest with our often worried citizens,” Mr. Juncker said. “As long as there is war in Syria and terror in Libya, the refugee crisis will not simply go away.”
“We can build walls, we can build fences,” he said. “But imagine for a second if it were you, your child in your arms, the world you knew torn apart around you. There is no price you would not pay, there is no wall you would not climb.”
Mr. Juncker asked home affairs ministers of European Union member states to approve his plan to accept 160,000 refugees at their next meeting, on Sept. 14.
“That’s the number that Europeans have to take in charge, and have to take in their arms,” Mr. Juncker said. “Action is what is needed for the time being,” he continued, adding that the sight of people sleeping in railway stations and on beaches was unacceptable and must be addressed as winter approaches.
There is no guarantee that ministers will accept that plan. European Union leaders failed to agree on far more modest quotas at a summit meeting in June, and many governments must contend with the growing support of populist or anti-immigrant groups.
Countries like the Czech Republic and Hungary are likely to continue resisting any forms of binding and permanent quota systems.Countries like the Czech Republic and Hungary are likely to continue resisting any forms of binding and permanent quota systems.
But the discovery of more than 70 dead migrants in an abandoned truck parked on the side of an Austrian highway last month, and the photograph of a young Syrian boy whose body was found on a beach in Turkey, have helped crystallize the resolve of policy makers like Mr. Juncker to ensure that Europe does a better job of managing the influx. But the discovery last month of more than 70 dead migrants in a truck abandoned on the side of an Austrian highway, and the photograph of a young Syrian boy whose body was found on a beach in Turkey, have increased the resolve of policy makers like Mr. Juncker to ensure that Europe does a better job of managing the influx.
France, which had been hostile to permanent quotas, now supports Germany over the need for the permanent and mandatory reception of refugees to share the burden among all European countries. France, which had been hostile to permanent quotas, now supports Germany on the need to share the burden of taking in asylum seekers among all European countries.
In his bid to win support from even more member states, Mr. Juncker leveled thinly veiled criticism at Hungary, which has built a fence on its borders with Serbia to stem the arrivals. The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, has warned that Europe’s Christian traditions are under threat from newcomers from Muslim countries. In his bid to win support from even more member states, Mr. Juncker leveled thinly veiled criticism at Hungary, which has built a fence on its border with Serbia to stem the arrivals. The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, has warned that Christian traditions in Europe are under threat from newcomers from Muslim countries.
“Let us be clear and honest with our often worried citizens: As long as there is war in Syria and terror in Libya, the refugee crisis will not simply go away,” Mr. Juncker said. In what appeared to be a swipe at Mr. Orban, who said last week that Hungarians “do not want a large number of Muslim people” in their country, Mr. Juncker suggested that such an approach was completely unacceptable.
“We can build walls and we can build fences but imagine,” he said, “if it were you, your child in your arms, the world you knew torn apart around you, there is no price you would not pay, there is no wall you would not climb.” “Europe has made make the mistake in the past of distinguishing between Jews, Christians, Muslims,” Mr. Juncker said. “There is no religion, no belief, no philosophy when it comes to refugees,” he said.
“We have to accept these people on the European territory,” he said. To speed up the processing of asylum applications, Mr. Juncker said the European Commission planned to propose a list of countries that are deemed safe, to which migrants originating from those countries would be sent back. He noted that the list should include candidate countries for accession to the European Union, like the western Balkans.
Mr. Juncker said that Europe should learn from its history and appeared to point a moral finger at European countries demonizing asylum-seekers from Muslim countries.
He also mentioned the large number of people from Ireland, Poland and Scotland that had emigrated to the United States, suggesting that immigration was a source of cultural richness rather than an impediment.
Addressing the root causes of the migration crisis, he also proposed that the European Union create an emergency fund of 1.8 billion euros, or more than $2 billion, to help African countries.
In Germany, where officials expect as many as 800,000 migrants to arrive this year alone, Ms. Merkel has repeatedly emphasized the importance of equitable contributions to addressing the migration crisis from all members of the European Union.
“The current refugee crisis cannot be handled solely at the national level,” Ms. Merkel said in a speech to Parliament. “It is a challenge for the European Union, for every member of the European Union.”
Addressing Parliament in Berlin, Ms. Merkel said on Wednesday that European Union member states needed to agree on a way to distribute refugees equitably across the bloc.
Over the past week, Ms. Merkel’s government has taken measures to help the thousands of people pouring into Germany. A package valued at €6 billion was announced on Monday, and legislative changes affecting how applications for asylum are processed and how to get them into the work force more quickly are expected to come to a vote in Parliament within a month.
“We need to change,” she said, “and it won’t help anyone to point fingers and exchange blame over who didn’t do what, but we all need to go at this so that we can help the people arriving in our country.”
A crucial component of a solution, Ms. Merkel said, is working more closely with all of the main transit countries. That would include dialogue with Turkey, which has taken in more than a million Syrian migrants since the start of the war there, but human traffickers have been helping many continue their journeys to northern Europe.
Resolving the migrant crisis “needs to be a European responsibility,” Ms. Merkel said. “Only in this way will every member state focus on the reasons for flight and trying to prevent international conflicts.”