Commission
migration proposal draws fire
Countries
along Western Balkans route chafe at plan ahead of mini-summit in
Brussels.
By JACOPO BARIGAZZI
AND HANS VON DER BURCHARD 10/25/15, 2:03 PM CET
A European
Commission proposal calling on countries along the Western Balkans
migration route to stop letting refugees pass through their borders
is already under fire from leaders as they arrive in Brussels Sunday
for an emergency meeting.
Leaders of countries
along the route have been invited for a special, 10-nation
mini-summit hosted by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and
called at the direction of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is
under increasing political pressure at home to deal with a record
influx of refugees.
The Commission is
pushing the countries to “commit to refrain from facilitating the
movement of refugees or migrants to the border of another country of
the region without the agreement of that country,” according to a
draft of the proposal circulated to diplomats before the meeting.
Critical reactions
to the plan were already coming ahead of the gathering from eastern
European countries on the route, which stretches from Greece in the
south through Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Hungary
and Slovenia.
Croatian Prime
Minister Zoran Milanović lashed out at the Commission proposal
Saturday, saying “whoever wrote it does not understand how things
work, he woke up from several months dreaming. There will be no
obligations for Croatia … not a single one.”
Bulgarian diplomatic
sources said they were “skeptical” about the proposal, arguing it
included an unusual imbalance between general political commitments
and detailed concrete obligations on the countries.
A Slovenian
diplomat, however, called the text “more or less balanced.”
Political advisors
of the participating countries at the meeting, which also will
include the leaders of Austria and Germany, met in the Commission
Sunday morning to discuss the proposal ahead of the leaders’
summit.
“There are intense
discussions going on,” one European diplomat said. “We expect
changes to the document before it goes to the leaders” later on
Sunday afternoon.
The meeting comes
amid mounting difficulties facing Europe, which is struggling to cope
with a migration crisis that keeps on shifting. Slovenia last week
called for the better protection of the EU’s external borders in
Greece after turning into the latest frontline in the crisis.
Last Tuesday
Slovenia had called in its army to deal with the sheer numbers of
migrants arriving at its borders after Hungary closed its border with
Croatia.
Slovenia, which has
a population of around 2 million, claims to be overstrained by the
influx and asked the Commission last week for €60 million over the
next six months to aid the handling of refugees.
In Greece, the
number of arrivals by sea this year has now passed the half-million
mark with the arrival last Monday on the Aegean islands of nearly
8,000 people, the UNHCR said. “Many of the refugees and migrants
are desperate to quickly move onwards, fearing that borders ahead of
them will close,” the UN refugee agency also
said.Migration-map-meeting_FINAL3-01-01 (1)
The draft Commission
statement also reconfirmed the principle “that a country may refuse
entry to third-country nationals who, when presenting themselves at
border crossing points, do not confirm a wish to apply for
international protection” — meaning that those who do not declare
the intention to apply for the status of a refugee could be refused
entry immediately at the border.
The document also
includes measures such as setting up a new operation by the EU’s
border control agency Frontex at the external land border between
Greece and Macedonia and Albania “to focus on exit checks but also
the registration of refugees and migrants who have not yet registered
in Greece.”
It would also deploy
new Frontex support to detect irregular border crossings and support
registration and fingerprinting in Croatia and the deployment “by
Wednesday of 400 border guards and essential equipment through the
activation by Slovenia of the Rapid Border Intervention Team
mechanism.” That would allow, in case of urgent and exceptional
migratory pressure, rapid deployment of border guards on a European
level even as responsibility for the control and surveillance of
external borders remains with member countries.
“Refugees need to
be treated in a humane manner along the length of the Western Balkans
route to avoid a humanitarian tragedy in Europe,” the document
reads.
The proposal also
includes measures calling on countries to boost “the capacity of
their countries to provide temporary shelter, food, health, water and
sanitation to all in need,” and to “make their needs clear and to
trigger the EU Civil Protection Mechanism” which consists of
governmental aid delivered in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
Finally, in terms of
funding, leaders will also “engage in immediate operational
contacts with international financial institutions such as the
European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development and the Development Bank of the Council of Europe which
are ready to support these efforts financially.
Authors:
Jacopo Barigazzi
and Hans von der Burchard
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