Schäuble
warns of refugee ‘avalanche’ in dig at Merkel
Europe’s
migration crisis
The
EU is struggling to respond to a surge of desperate migrants that has
resulted in thousands of deaths since the beginning of the year
By Stefan Wagstyl in
Berlin
The government has
since cut cash benefits for asylum seekers, replacing them with
vouchers. It has also declared that refugees could be safely returned
to all western Balkan countries — adding Albania, Kosovo and
Montenegro to an existing list — rather than granting them asylum
in Germany.
Last week, after
tough talks with her coalition partners, Ms Merkel announced plans to
speed up asylum processing and to limit family reunion rights for
refugees granted “subsidiary protection”, a legal status that
ranks below asylum.
But CDU/CSU
hardliners want her to go further, notably by limiting family
reunions, even for Syrians who would otherwise be entitled to this
based on their asylum claims. They argue that Germany has no
obligation to accept people already in safe camps in Turkey and other
neighbouring states.
In a sign of the
pressure Ms Merkel faces, officials confirmed this week that on
October 21 Mr de Maizière had — without telling the chancellor —
reimposed the so-called “Dublin rules” for Syrians. The EU
regulations allow a country, such as Germany, to return refugees to
the member state in which they first arrived in the union. The
suspension of these rules was the key technical change Ms Merkel made
with her “refugees welcome” announcement this summer.
Ms Merkel’s power
is being undermined by the challenges to her refugee policy. Still,
few CDU/CSU sceptics seem prepared to seriously question her
leadership, focusing instead on pushing her towards a harder line.
Leaders struggle to
save floundering migrant policy
European Parliament
President Martin Schulz (L) chats with European Council President
Donald Tusk before the first Round Table of the European Union -
Africa Summit on Migration on November 11, 2015 in La Valletta. EU
leaders meet their African counterparts in Malta today with pledges
of billions of euros in aid in exchange for help in reducing
migration to an overwhelmed Europe. The Europeans aim to ask African
heads of state and government in Valletta to take back more economic
migrants in return for up to 3.6 billion euros ($2 billion) to tackle
root causes of migration like poverty and armed conflict. AFP PHOTO /
FILIPPO MONTEFORTE - MALTA
She and Mr Schäuble
worked closely as Berlin led Europe’s response to the Greek crisis.
But a rift emerged over the country’s most recent €86bn bailout,
with Mr Schäuble taking a harder line and, some believed, even
agitating for a Grexit.
If Ms Merkel were
forced out, Mr Schäuble’s allies see him as a likely successor: he
is Germany’s second most powerful leader and an increasingly
critical voice on refugee policy.
But at the age of 73
he is considered too old to be more than a temporary chancellor.
Also, he has, like Ms Merkel, emphasised that the crisis can be
solved only through cooperation with EU partners and Turkey — and
that this will take time.
Mr Schäuble has
repeatedly sworn his loyalty to Ms Merkel. But MPs say he cannot
forget that he was groomed for the top job for years by former
chancellor Helmut Kohl only to find himself embroiled in 2000 in a
party financing scandal. That opened the way for the previously
little-known Ms Merkel to take over the CDU party and, later, the
chancellery.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário