When Chancellor Angela Merkel announced in fall 2015 that Germany would adopt an open-door policy toward refugees fleeing the war in Syria, she didn’t inform her Christian Democratic Union party or her coalition partners. Nor did she inform the European Commission, the EU’s executive, or her neighbors—except her Austrian counterpart, Chancellor Werner Faymann.
Austria, along with Germany and Sweden, has been taking in an unprecedented number of refugees since 2014. But now, with no end in sight to the war in Syria and with the rise of populism in Austria, Vienna has had enough. Austria has introduced border controls and limits on the number of refugees allowed into the country. That was a blow to the EU and to Merkel. Member states are going their own way.
The migrants continue to pass through Turkey, reaching Greece by boat and then trying to make their way up through the Western Balkans to other EU countries, primarily Austria and Germany. This is despite the fact that the EU has offered Turkey €3 billion ($3.3 billion) to deal with the refugee crisis and has promised progress on the country’s EU accession negotiations and the prospect of a visa liberalization agreement if Ankara imposes strict controls on its borders with the EU.
So far, there has been little progress. More than 110,000 people have arrived in Greece and Italy in the first two months of 2016 alone. That is in addition to the 1 million asylum seekers who entered the EU in 2015, most of whom ended up in Germany.
Austria’s decision to impose limits hasn’t stemmed the flow of refugees and migrants either. The country’s border has been only half closed. Refugees can still make their way to Germany.
The result is that the strain on Greece and other Western Balkan countries has become intolerable. There are over 12,000 migrants stranded in Greece, a country that is simply unable to cope financially, politically, or socially with the influx. To make matters worse for Greece, its neighbor Macedonia has closed its border. Other countries in the region have built fences on their frontiers because EU member states cannot agree on a common refugee and asylum policy.
Above all, many of these countries now blame Merkel for her open-door policy. Because she will not impose any limits on those entering Germany, it is to Germany that most of the refugees and migrants are heading. And as the majority of refugees make their way across the Western Balkan route, the ability of the under-resourced countries in the region to cope has reached breaking point—which in turn has added more misery for those seeking safety and shelter.
To alleviate some of the pressure, ministers from Austria and nine Balkan countries met in Vienna on February 24 to discuss ways to control the region’s borders and check the identities of people seeking refuge. The aim was to make it as difficult as possible for those reaching Greece to leave the country.
Astonishingly, Greece was not invited to the meeting. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was furious, and rightly so. “Greece will no longer agree to any deal if the burdens and responsibilities are not shared proportionally,” he told the Greek parliament. “We will not allow our country to turn into a warehouse of souls.”
The Vienna meeting showed the helplessness of the EU in its attempts to persuade member states to share the burden of refugees. Indeed, the EU’s future ability to implement any kind of burden sharing was dealt another blow.
On the same day as the Vienna meeting, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced he would hold a referendum on the European Commission’s plans to introduce quotas for relocating migrants throughout the EU. Hungary was the first EU member to build a high razor-wire fence along its border to prevent any refugees from entering the country. Since then, Hungary and other EU states have refused to implement the commission’s burden-sharing measures. Several countries have introduced border controls that are undermining the EU’s Schengen system of passport-free travel.
“Nobody has asked the European people so far whether they support, accept, or reject the mandatory migrant quotas,” Orbán said. “The government is responding to public sentiment now: we Hungarians think introducing resettlement quotas for migrants without the backing of the people equals an abuse of power,” he added.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Orbán’s decision to hold a referendum were copied by Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, whose leaders want little or nothing to do with the refugees. If Hungarians vote to oppose burden sharing, it will further weaken the EU’s ability to forge any kind of common policy to cope with the refugee crisis.
Merkel, in the meantime, is still betting on Turkey’s cooperation. But it would be naive if she and Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, and Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, which brings together EU leaders, believed a partial solution to the refugee crisis could be found at an EU summit with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in early March.
What all this means is that it falls to Merkel to make a decision on how to move forward in the refugee crisis. Were she to impose limits on the number of refugees and migrants entering Germany, this could relieve the pressure on the Western Balkans and Greece. Were the EU to really step up its efforts to help Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan take care of the refugees, this could make a difference too.
But ultimately, the refugee crisis will abate only once the war in Syria ends. Of that, there is no sign. Unless there is a major change of heart among all 28 EU member states toward sharing the burden, the EU will further unravel, and as Carnegie Europe’s Stefan Lehne suggested in a recent article, it could become “an ever-looser union.” The EU is already heading in that direction.
Comments(8)
The post-war German constitution embodies the bold ambition of a unified Europe (exactly whose ambition isn't clear) for which some say the rich national diversity of the European nations has to be broken down. Mass migration is one way to do this, or so the mantra goes. The population grab from war torn countries that will ultimately need to rebuild is simply morally bankrupt. This ignores an existential point: the source of post world war European unity and stability has been its centuries old shared culture and values. Shared culture and values transcend nationalism. The migration precipitated unilaterally by Merkel shows she is wholly blind to this distinction. It is a short step from diversity to chaos.
The 'refugee' crisis will not stop when the war in Syria ends. Even if that war ended tomorrow the poor and wretched from North and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia would continue to pour into the continent. This is primarily not about refugees but migrants. This problem is only going to get worse and Europe cannot possibly continue with Merkel's approach without the continent collapsing into disorder and violence.
Even the EU, which is resolutely in favor of open borders, has reported that 60-70% of the "refugees" are not refugees but economic immigrants. Misrepresenting these people as "refugees," as this article does, will probably convince very few, as the public seems well-informed on this matter, and will instead result in articles like this being disregarded as open-borders propaganda.
The opening paragraph of this article gives the impression that the refugee crisis in the EU only started last year; thanks to Merkel's "open-door policy". (In Fall 2015? You are joking, right?) The historical truth is that Merkel's open-door policy has been in place, now, for more than ten years. It started about the time Merkel took the chancellorship from Helmut Kohl. At that time, the first boat-load of so-called 'refugees', with 30 trafficked people on board, arrived in Malta. When the Maltese government allowed these refugees to proceed to Sicily, the Italian government vilified the Maltese coast guard, and forced the refugees back to Malta (first EU country of arrival). As if that was not enough, when later the Maltese government set out to deport these trafficked migrants, the Jesuit priests on Malta threatened to take the Maltese government to the European courts. From then onwards, Malta, Italy and Spain kept obliging Merkel servilely, and went on to accumulate thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa over the following years and until the present time. But come the Syrian war, along with refugees storming into Orbán’s Hungary, and hell broke loose in the EU.
That Woman, Madame MERKEL won't be equalled anywhere in World Political History: She was a Visonary. And what She's done to Germany, Her country will be of a Huge benefit for Generations. Unfortunately She did so while populism is gaining ground, and provoked a boost to their vilain ideas. It's awfully regrettable that she wasn't followed by other "leaders" who preferred following the Rivers course: The Mob feelings. It was a Rendez-Vous manqué for Europe, and It will not be Retaken. Time is Up to rahabilitate humane behaviour in Political Action. The Refugee Crisis is Deep Truth - Revealer: what is the Real face of our leaders. Mrs. Angela MERKEL, the German Chancellor, has made History for good. It will take too long to find a rival to her Action, that Decision which is dealt with now in this article.
In the context of this story, "populism" reads like a euphemism for extreme right-wing racist xenophobia. I have no arguments with the main geopolitical points made in the essay, but let's use accurate language!
What is Remarkable is that German leaders have been , in Europe, mostly the most Reasonable ever on Issues accordingly especially when dealing with Population problems! It's not astonishing to see the Merkel's Stand, as some people tend to notify Her Policy on the Currently crucial "probématique des réfugiés"! This has gotten nothing New, except its aspect of Huge Numbers: More than a Million for the Only German territory... Al the EU zone is capable of welcoming, socially inserting more than double number: But the Fears, Populism and lack of Common Policy hampers the European Initiatives which Unfortunately Turn to National more than Federated or Togetherness Views and Steps: Here a Wall! There Strongly Reinforced Fence... What There, What Here?!? It's L'Europe au Sauve - Qui - Peut, instead of Europe à l'initiative: Do You Imagine Engaging for Trans-Boundary settlement of 160 thousand asylum seekers and refugees and Fail to even reach One Thaousand? On a Continent, or so... Unqualiable! That is my simple opinion. Merkel confirmed a national Vision: and German has the Most Humane view in this Issue so far, despite the problems she is facing internally.
The refugee crisis has altered the EU permanently. Even if one merely looks at the EU-Turkey agreements which, without the humanitarian crisis, would not have been possible. Yet the crisis was trigerred off by France that surmised that Belgian 'trash' equalized the Islamic State - in its declared war against terror. Now the entire EU is awash with such 'trash' and many coming directly from the Islamic state controlled regions. Apart the original Syrian crisis amidst a Balkanization of West Asia, the role of the French war upon "terror" is impressive. Maybe Indo-Chamaar Chopard watches as gifts. Or Indo-Moslem Saville Row suits as gifts. To help the refugees settle in better with European sensibilities could help. Or will French socialsts continue materializing from the thin air? Even the narcotics Don from India - Dawood Ibrahim is said to have partially relocated his assets in India to the EU states, apart the usual African routes for stolen money for the Indians. So the EU continues being an attractive destination. One awaits the development of the French "war on terror". Although Chopard watches & Saville Row suits make for 'Christian' gestures upon Italian pizzas from India: to help the refugees settle down in a chagrined EU.
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