Merkel presses over migration as 'European solution' fails

[webfact]

Merkel presses over migration as 'European solution' fails

By Gabriela Baczynska and Robert-Jan Bartunek

 

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker speaks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during an informal EU summit on migration at EU headquarters in Brussels, June 24, 2018. Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Pool via Reuters

 

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday she would seek direct deals with separate European Union states on migration, conceding the bloc had failed to find a joint solution to the issue threatening her government.

 

Since Mediterranean arrivals spiked in 2015, when more than a million refugees and migrants reached the bloc, EU leaders have been at odds over how to handle them. The feud has weakened their unity and undermined Europe's Schengen free-travel area.

 

Sixteen EU leaders met for emergency talks in Brussels on Sunday hoping to get a deal for the full summit of all 28 states on June 28-29.

 

They will endorse further tightening of their external borders and giving more money to foreign countries to prevent people from setting sail for Europe. But they cannot agree on how to share out those asylum seekers who make it.

 

Wealthy Germany is where the newly-arrived mostly end up and Merkel is under pressure to curb the numbers. Her coalition partner is pushing for firmer action that could break her government.

 

"There will be bilateral and trilateral agreements, how can we help each other, not always wait for all 28 members," she said.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron offered his backing, saying the solution should be "European" but it could just be several states together.

 

United Nations data shows only about 41,000 people have made it to the EU across the sea this year. But opinion polls show migration is the top concern of the EU's 500 million citizens.

 

Since 2015, migration has decided elections across the bloc from Italy to Hungary, with voters favouring a tougher stance.

 

In response, the EU has turned increasingly restrictive on asylum and pushed to curb arrivals, a strategy denounced by rights groups.

 

ITALIAN GOVERNMENT

Italy has long struggled to cope with arrivals and its new populist government rejects any idea that would see it handle more people.

 

Rome has started turning away ships with migrants rescued at sea, saying it should not be the sole EU entry point. Malta could accept some in the coming days, sources said.

 

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who said he was leaving Brussels "decidedly satisfied", also wants to drop the rules stipulating that the first EU country of arrival is responsible for any given person.

 

He said those who refuse to take in some of the new arrivals should get less money from EU coffers, an idea that is anathema to the four ex-communist states in the east who do not want to host anyone.

 

EU states will agree later this week to spend more money on Syrian refugees in Turkey and provide more cash for Africa projects.

 

They are considering setting up centres abroad to decide on asylum requests there and send back those whose cases fail. The EU would want the U.N. agencies for refugees and migration to run these sites.

 

"A European solution means throwing more German money at things. We will be moving towards more cash and aid for places like Libya, we will beef up the EU border and coast guards, we will send more illegal migrants back," one EU diplomat said.

 

"But we will always have legitimate asylum seekers who are entitled to our help. And we can't agree how to divide the responsibility of caring for them."

 

POLITICAL PRESSURE

Merkel's conservative allies, Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), have threatened to start turning away at the German border those registered for asylum elsewhere unless the bloc agrees on spreading them around more evenly.

 

Migrants mostly stay in arrival countries like Greece and Italy or the wealthy ones where they try to start a new life.

 

But Hungary and Poland have refused to host any arrivals. Now backed by Austria, they want to end any further discussion on rules for sharing them out across the bloc.

 

Bad blood from the deadlock has spilled over to other areas of cooperation, including talks on the EU's seven-year budget from 2021.

 

Merkel opposes the idea by the CSU, which faces off against the anti-immigration AfD party in Bavaria elections in October, as it would mean rigid border controls inside Schengen. That would have a knock-on effect on other EU states, hit cross-border business and travel.

 

A poll published in Germany on Sunday showed the dispute was weakening support for Merkel's coalition and pushed the AfD to its highest ratings.

 

Even though EU leaders agree they want to go on curbing arrivals through working with third countries like Tunisia or Niger, such accords are complicated, slow and costly.

 

To convince the CSU, Merkel needs deals to stop migrants trekking north, as well as to send back to the coastal states those people who make it to Germany against EU rules.

 

Conte said such secondary movements would not be a problem if other EU states helped Italy more in dealing with arrivals.

 

(Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Peter Maushagen and Francesco Guarascio in Brussels, Stephen Jewkes in Rome, Andrea Shalal in Berlin, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-25

 

[The Renegade]

19 minutes ago, webfact said:

Merkel presses over migration as 'European solution' fails

When 12 of 28 EU Countries were not invited, or refused to turn up, of course they were going to fail.

 

This was never anything to do with trying to sort  the migrant issue, it was about trying to save Merkel's Political @rse.

[soalbundy]

They are going to get tough eventually, why not do it now, select the ones you need and send the rest back, mutti is swimming against the current and it wont end well.

[arithai12]

10 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

They are going to get tough eventually, why not do it now, select the ones you need and send the rest back, mutti is swimming against the current and it wont end well.

Experience shows that, once they have their foot in Europe, it's almost impossible to send them back.

The centers for holding and screening them, sorting out the legitimate asylum seekers from the economic migrant with no intention of ever integrating in the european culture, must be established in the countries of origin.

 

 

 

[Catoni]

It's already too late. The Europe we used to know and love is existing now on borrowed time.

[transam]

Immigrant flooding..An old saying.."Give an inch and they take a yard"....

EU is now paying the price of an inch...

The inch is now a "Bandwagon"..

[wombat]

''Wealthy Germany''

Please explain?

[Rigby40]

47 minutes ago, Catoni said:

It's already too late. The Europe we used to know and love is existing now on borrowed time.

Good riddance. Western Europeans are weak and they don't deserve what they aren't willing to fight for.

My next trip to Europe will be to Hungary or Poland to pay respect ?

[sweatalot]

merkel, that happens when you don't care what the people who elected you want. Thanks god some european countries are waking up. I hope Gernmany, too will.

You deserve that every effect of your terrible wrong politics will fall on your feet. Unfortunately your people have to suffer, too.

[Bundooman]

2 hours ago, wombat said:

''Wealthy Germany''

Please explain?

It means that Germany is considered to be a wealthy country. doesn't it?

[Rimmer]

A couple of troll comments have been removed

[Catoni]

5 hours ago, Rigby40 said:

Good riddance. Western Europeans are weak and they don't deserve what they aren't willing to fight for.

My next trip to Europe will be to Hungary or Poland to pay respect ?

     Fine..... then, sooner or later, the day will come that the ones moving in and changing Europe will be knocking on your door next... 

    Enjoy..  

[soalbundy]

6 hours ago, arithai12 said:

Experience shows that, once they have their foot in Europe, it's almost impossible to send them back.

The centers for holding and screening them, sorting out the legitimate asylum seekers from the economic migrant with no intention of ever integrating in the european culture, must be established in the countries of origin.

 

 

 

Many people in Europe originated from somewhere else 3 or 4 generations ago. 50 yrs ago I worked for a short time in Fords Dagenham, in my department was a Serbian, a Frenchman, a German and even a real native of the Brazilian jungle ( he married a British missionary ) they were all well integrated. 14 yrs ago In my office in Germany were an Austrian, 2 Englishmen, a Spanish woman and 2 second generation Turks, the secretary was a hungarian woman. The CAD (computer aided design) department had a number of Pakistanis and  Iranians, again, all fluent German speakers and well integrated. Germany and Italy need immigration due to falling birth rates, indeed the pension funds in Germany would have collapsed without them. Yes, you will have trouble at first but it settles down.

[jenny2017]

10 hours ago, arithai12 said:

Experience shows that, once they have their foot in Europe, it's almost impossible to send them back.

The centers for holding and screening them, sorting out the legitimate asylum seekers from the economic migrant with no intention of ever integrating in the european culture, must be established in the countries of origin.

 

 

 

    I'm wondering if she's still making it? "Wir schaffen das? " Wir= we? She? No. 

[jenny2017]

3 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Many people in Europe originated from somewhere else 3 or 4 generations ago. 50 yrs ago I worked for a short time in Fords Dagenham, in my department was a Serbian, a Frenchman, a German and even a real native of the Brazilian jungle ( he married a British missionary ) they were all well integrated. 14 yrs ago In my office in Germany were an Austrian, 2 Englishmen, a Spanish woman and 2 second generation Turks, the secretary was a hungarian woman. The CAD (computer aided design) department had a number of Pakistanis and  Iranians, again, all fluent German speakers and well integrated. Germany and Italy need immigration due to falling birth rates, indeed the pension funds in Germany would have collapsed without them. Yes, you will have trouble at first but it settles down.

And many people receive less money as their pension than Hartz 4 receivers have. The typical German Franz drives an old junk car, the Turks, and Co. their Benz and BMW's.

And none of them is working, they only have to show kids who don't have to be their own ones. No need to speak German if you know the important words like Kindergeld, Arbeitslosengeld, Sozialhilfe, etc.

Germany is going down the drain. 

 

  

[Jaggg88]

11 hours ago, wombat said:

''Wealthy Germany''

Please explain?

Germany is the wealthiest country in the EU. Switzerland and Norway are both wealthier than Germany but they are not in the EU. 

[Sydebolle]

So the bottom line is, political survival of Merkel or the complete disintegration of Germany. Latter will result in riots, slash-and-burn demonstrations starting in the East of the country followed by finger pointing to "we've seen all this already once some 90 years ago". 

Then, as now, it is a RE-action and not an action and either the politicians are booted out of office, locked up in the slammer and the keys thrown away - or we have a rebirth of countries cleaning (not cleansing!)  up their act. Go figure ..... the writing is think and bold on the wall - again! 

[soalbundy]

10 hours ago, jenny2017 said:

And many people receive less money as their pension than Hartz 4 receivers have. The typical German Franz drives an old junk car, the Turks, and Co. their Benz and BMW's.

And none of them is working, they only have to show kids who don't have to be their own ones. No need to speak German if you know the important words like Kindergeld, Arbeitslosengeld, Sozialhilfe, etc.

Germany is going down the drain. 

 

  

That just isn't true, in fact you would have to look hard to find an old junk car on the road. Turks are a large part of the work force in any factory, when they retire many have health problems due to years of hard labour and can't go back to Turkey to live because in doing so they would lose their German health insurance, many are more German than Turkish anyway, especially the third generation, before I left, a 12 yr old Turkish girl won a nationwide competition for the best articulation of the German language, beating her German peers. That isn't to say that there aren't some problems due to cultural differences, exacerbated by local 'humour' eg. a plastic bag from Aldi being referred to as a Turkish suitcase but overall they have ceased to be a problem for the Germans, they are part of the landscape. As for pensions they are generally quite generous but yes there are some who receive a minimum pension, usually women who have had low paying jobs and have only worked intermittently.

[Scott]

Troll post reported and removed.  

[Rigby40]

21 hours ago, Catoni said:

     Fine..... then, sooner or later, the day will come that the ones moving in and changing Europe will be knocking on your door next... 

    Enjoy..  

We're not a bunch of cowards. Will don't roll over and give up our rights so easily.

[katana]

On 6/25/2018 at 10:37 AM, soalbundy said:

On 6/25/2018 at 3:18 AM, arithai12 said:

Experience shows that, once they have their foot in Europe, it's almost impossible to send them back.

The centers for holding and screening them, sorting out the legitimate asylum seekers from the economic migrant with no intention of ever integrating in the european culture, must be established in the countries of origin.

 

 

 

Many people in Europe originated from somewhere else 3 or 4 generations ago. 50 yrs ago I worked for a short time in Fords Dagenham, in my department was a Serbian, a Frenchman, a German and even a real native of the Brazilian jungle ( he married a British missionary ) they were all well integrated. 14 yrs ago In my office in Germany were an Austrian, 2 Englishmen, a Spanish woman and 2 second generation Turks, the secretary was a hungarian woman. The CAD (computer aided design) department had a number of Pakistanis and  Iranians, again, all fluent German speakers and well integrated. Germany and Italy need immigration due to falling birth rates, indeed the pension funds in Germany would have collapsed without them. Yes, you will have trouble at first but it settles down.

It's often claimed the immigrants are needed due to Europe's low birthrate and it's justified in this way.
However, why don't countries just increase child benefit payments for their native populations, which was done previously? There is a long history in Europe of using the tax and welfare system to modify social behaviour eg after World War I, many countries were left with dwindling populations. In an attempt to solve this problem, Sweden began a program called "family allowance". These were government funds given to families with children to encourage them to bear more children and increase the birthrate.
In the UK after World War II, bringing up several children was encouraged to restore the birth rate: in 1945, Family Allowance was introduced in the UK to provide benefit for second and subsequent children.

[soalbundy]

14 hours ago, katana said:

It's often claimed the immigrants are needed due to Europe's low birthrate and it's justified in this way.
However, why don't countries just increase child benefit payments for their native populations, which was done previously? There is a long history in Europe of using the tax and welfare system to modify social behaviour eg after World War I, many countries were left with dwindling populations. In an attempt to solve this problem, Sweden began a program called "family allowance". These were government funds given to families with children to encourage them to bear more children and increase the birthrate.
In the UK after World War II, bringing up several children was encouraged to restore the birth rate: in 1945, Family Allowance was introduced in the UK to provide benefit for second and subsequent children.

These days it's different, it's me,me,me, 3 holidays a year, the newest fashion clothes, a smart car and all the other rubbish the consumer gods have thrown at us, low job security, expensive housing and the modern superficial lifestyle so prevalent today, even in urban Thailand. Refugees that are still normal human beings can only enrich us.