Countries rethink commitments to accept refugees

Countries rethink commitments to accept refugees

Paris terror attacks undermine fragile EU asylum and border policies.

By JACOPO BARIGAZZI AND HANS VON DER BURCHARD 11/14/15, 5:50 PM CET Updated 11/15/15, http://www.politico.eu/article/countries-rethink-commitments-to-accept-refugees-paris-attacks/

The fragile consensus on dealing with the flood of migrants seeking refuge in Europe fractured Saturday following the Paris terrorist attacks, further threatening the bloc’s passport-free Schengen zone.

Poland was the first EU member to break ranks on the unpopular migration policy. The country’s previous government had been reluctant to take part in the EU’s relocation program for 160,000 refugees, but was coaxed into taking 7,500. The new right-wing Law and Justice party administration is even more adamantly opposed.

Poland’s nominee to be European affairs minister, Konrad Szymański, said the country would not take part in the relocation scheme.

“The European Council decision criticized by us to relocate refugees and migrants in all EU countries still has the status of binding EU law. But in light of the tragic events in Paris, we see no political possibility of carrying them out. Poland must retain full control over its borders, over asylum and migration policies,” he wrote on the wpolityce.pl blog Saturday.

In a radio interview later Saturday, Szymański softened his position, saying Poland will take asylum-seekers as long as there are “security guarantees.”

The country’s new government is likely to be sworn in this week, but diplomats were unclear about what to make of Szymański’s statements even as they said the attacks may force a re-think of the policy.

“The relocation as it was approved does not make sense anymore but its future depends mainly on Germany,” said an EU diplomat.

The attacks, which killed at least 127 and wounded more than 100, also dealt a blow to Europe’s Schengen policy. The open-border zone has already come under enormous strain from the unprecedented number of asylum-seekers and migrants arriving in Europe this year. The quick move Saturday by some Central European countries to distance themselves from the delicate migration consensus creates serious problems for the future of the Schengen zone.

One of the first responses Friday night by French President François Hollande was to strengthen controls on the country’s borders. Belgium has also toughened up its controls along its frontier with France. Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said his country raised its security alert, allowing special forces to be deployed, and strengthened its border.

That comes after recent moves like Sweden’s reimposition of controls to halt migrants moving north from Germany.

The concern, diplomats said, is that the Paris terrorist attacks could raise even more pressure on both the increasingly fragile Schengen agreement and on the fraying migrant relocation plan.

“The Poles were just looking for an excuse to pull out of the relocation scheme and the end of Schengen would be a victory for the Islamist radicals,” said the diplomat.

The Poles weren’t alone. Latvian President Raimonds Vējonis said his country will take in “no additional” refugees from the EU unless each new refugee is subject to a rigorous, EU-wide common security check. Latvia has agreed to take in 531 asylum seekers under the EU plan.

The Czech and Slovaks have so far given no signals they will pull out of their relocation commitments, EU sources said.

Central European leaders said they had warned that Germany’s open-door policy for migrants created an enormous danger for the EU by allowing in a flood of barely documented people from the Middle East.

“We have been saying for several months that the security risks linked to migration are huge,” Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, one of the most resolute foes of the relocation plan, said Saturday.

Even Germany, which has registered 758,000 refugees entering the country as of the end of October, expressed concern that terrorists might be hiding among the migrants.

“We have clues from foreign intelligence services that terrorists might mix with refugees. We take them very seriously,” Interior Minister Thomas de Mazière said in October.

However, de Mazière warned Saturday of false conclusions after the Paris attacks. “My urgent appeal is not to draw a line to the debate about the refugees.”

Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister who has been the most vocal anti-immigrant leader in the EU, framed the migration debate in terms of defending Christian civilization against a Muslim onslaught. “Hungary’s defenses must be increased,” he said Saturday.

Earlier this week, Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák said, “I cannot imagine the dissolution of Schengen. Today, Schengen is not only about the freedom of movement, but it also is an economic phenomenon.”

Although the Central European countries are among the biggest critics of the migration policy, they are among the strongest advocates of Schengen, which has benefited their citizens and their economies.

“Many of the countries in the East that strongly opposed relocation are also very much in favor of Schengen,” said an EU diplomat.

The ability to continue allowing unrestricted travel around most of the EU depends in part on where the terrorists came from, which is not yet known.

“For the future of Schengen it will be crucial to understand whether terrorists were homegrown or if they arrived from an EU country,” an EU official said.

EU leaders are already conferring over what steps to take. Hollande’s office has been in touch with the cabinet of Donald Tusk, president of the European Council. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will hold a press conference on Sunday.

For the moment no special EU summit is being considered, sources said. The first chance for EU leaders to speak face-to-face will be on Sunday at the G20 in Antalya, Turkey, although Hollande has said he will not attend because of the emergency in Paris.

“Terrorism was already in the agenda of the summit but now it is clear it will be the major discussion point,” said the EU official.

Richard Martyn-Hemphill contributed to this article

Authors:

Jacopo Barigazzi and Hans von der Burchard