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Future of EU hinges on solving migration issue, says Merkel Future of EU hinges on solving migration issue, says Merkel
(about 3 hours later)
Angela Merkel has said the future of the European Union hinges on whether it can find answers to the “vital questions” posed by migration. Angela Merkel warned on Thursday that the future of the European Union hinged on whether it could find answers to the “vital questions” posed by migration, as she received muted support from some of her fellow leaders arriving for a crucial summit likely to determine whether her fraying coalition government survives.
Addressing the Bundestag before heading to Brussels for a European summit that is likely to determine the future of her fraying coalition government, the German chancellor said European leaders should find a solution to asylum challenges “by allowing ourselves to be guided by values and rooting for multilateralism rather than unilateralism”. Addressing the Bundestag before heading to Brussels, the German chancellor said European leaders should find a solution to asylum challenges “by allowing ourselves to be guided by values and rooting for multilateralism rather than unilateralism”.
If the heads of government gathering in Brussels failed to do so, Merkel said, they risked creating a situation where “no one believes in the value system that has made us so strong”. If the heads of government gathering in Brussels failed to do so, Merkel warned, they risked creating a situation where “no one believes in the value system that has made us so strong”.
European leaders at the summit addressed the crisis that has caused political spasms across the bloc. Migration is dominating the EU summit in Brussels, whose agenda has been dubbed by some insiders as Saving Private Merkel.
Germany’s coalition government is under immense strain, after the hardline interior minister Horst Seehofer threatened to turn away any asylum claimants already registered in another EU country, unless Merkel came up with a solution by 1 July.
Merkel fears that if Germany closes its borders it will set off a chain reaction that destroys Europe’s border-free travel zone, regarded by the EU as one of its greatest achievements, as well as a lynchpin of jobs and prosperity.
The leaders of Spain, Finland and Luxembourg expressed support for Germany to curtail “secondary movement” of migrants who have made an asylum claim in another European country.
“I understand when Germany says ‘why do we have to deal with everything?’” said Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel. The Spanish PM, Pedro Sánchez, said European solidarity on migration was vital, “especially with Germany which is now suffering a political crisis”.
But despite warm words, an EU-wide policy to help Germany seems elusive. The draft summit communique states that “member states should take all necessary internal legislative and administrative measures to counter such [secondary] movements and to closely cooperate” – a goal that falls short of a Europe-wide guarantee of help.
It remains unclear whether Merkel will be able to strike bilateral deals to satisfy her interior minister. Central European countries flatly refuse to take any migrants, while Italy wants more help dealing with arrivals.
European leaders are at odds over how to reform EU asylum policy, which is based on the principle that the first country of arrival takes responsibility for asylum claims. The system has put frontline states Italy, Greece and Spain under immense pressure, while Germany faces “secondary movements” of migrants, who may be seeking to speed up asylum claims.
Greece said it was ready to help Germany by taking back asylum seekers, a political boost for Merkel, but one that does not solve her problem, as the numbers returning to Greece would be small.
Italy’s new populist government wants European countries to share the burden of looking after the migrants arriving on its shores. “Italy doesn’t need any more verbal signs, but concrete deeds,” Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said.
Since Italy’s populist government began turning away migrant rescue boats from its ports, Europe’s divisions over migration have burst into the open.
After days adrift in international waters, the German NGO ship Lifeline, carrying 234 people, has now been allowed to dock at Malta. The Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat, announced that nine European countries, including Malta, had agreed to accept people rescued at sea.
European leaders are likely to sidestep the divisive issue of refugee quotas that has roiled the EU since 2015, when Brussels attempted to force through mandatory quotas.
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who was recently re-elected after a harsh anti-immigration campaign, made clear his country would not be welcoming refugees. In typically uncompromising language, he said the EU had to stop migrants arriving. “The invasion should be stopped and to stop the invasion means to have a strong border.”
Faultlines over managing internal migration means EU leaders will focus on action to prevent migrants arriving in Europe, a policy that commands consensus. EU leaders are expected to call for migrant processing centres to be set up in north African countries, but details remain sketchy.
The rightwing Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said that “being rescued in the Mediterranean must not automatically become a ticket to central Europe”.The rightwing Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said that “being rescued in the Mediterranean must not automatically become a ticket to central Europe”.
The Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, leader of Italy’s far-right populist coalition, called for a fundamental change in the EU’s migration policy, saying his country received little help even though it was at the forefront of taking in migrants from across the Mediterranean. “Italy doesn’t need any more verbal signs, but of concrete deeds,” he said. The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said the EU needed to come to a “Turkey-like agreement” with African countries, a reference to the 2016 migration pact with Ankara that led to a 97% fall in arrivals across the eastern Mediterranean.
The far-right Hungarian leader, Viktor Orban, said migration to Europe was an “invasion” that “should be stopped”. He added: “The people request two things. [The] first is, no migrants more in, so stop them. The second is, those who are in, should [be sent] back.” “We are not ready for the next crisis,” Rutte said, adding that it was not right that countries such as Spain and Italy were left to shoulder all the burden. The EU needed to decide “how to kill the business model of cynical boat smugglers, people dying in the migration sea” he said.
Merkel arrives in Brussels under immense pressure from her interior minister, Horst Seehofer, who is threatening to unilaterally turn away at German borders any migrants who have already registered in another EU country, unless the chancellor can come up with a European solution to the problem by 1 July. Questions persist about the proposed migrant processing centres, which no African country has agreed to host. The EU will call for further study of “regional disembarkation platforms”, a vague term for a scheme that EU officials admit is lacking detail.
In a 26-minute speech to the German parliament, notably in Seehofer’s absence, Merkel sounded a note of pessimism about the chances of striking an EU-wide deal on migration by Friday morning. Merkel, the architect of the EU-Turkey deal, told German MPs that it was time to seek conversations with African states about deals to return migrants “who absolutely have no right to stay”, modelled on the 2016 agreement.
“We are not yet where we want to be,” she said, adding that EU leaders remained at odds on two out of seven key questions relating to common standards for asylum procedures across the EU and a quota system for redistributing asylum seekers – a proposal that has proved a contentious issue across Europe for the last two years. In a 26-minute speech to the German parliament, notably in Seehofer’s absence, Merkel sounded a note of pessimism about the chances of striking an EU-wide deal on migration.
Merkel defended her decision to keep open German borders to refugees at the height of the crisis in September 2015, saying: “I still believe it was right.” Throughout Merkel’s speech she was heckled by delegates of the rightwing populist party Alternative für Deutschland. At one point she interrupted her own speech with the words: “My God, seriously now.”
But she also said it was time to return to practices before 2015 now that asylum requests had gone down, and to seek conversations with African states about deals to return migrants “who absolutely have no right to stay”, modelled on a 2016 agreement between Turkey and the EU.
Other European leaders such as Austria’s Kurz, have proposed deals to set up “secure zones” for refugees in north African states such as Libya.
Throughout Merkel’s speech she was heckled by delegates of the rightwing populist party Alternative für Deutschland. At one point she interrupted her own speech with the words “My God, seriously now”.
According to a survey by the German broadcaster ARD, 75% of Germans support the chancellor’s call for a European solution on migration. Only 36% of those questioned believed she would be able to secure such a deal in the near future.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
GermanyGermany
Angela MerkelAngela Merkel
European UnionEuropean Union
MigrationMigration
RefugeesRefugees
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