The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, highlighted this Friday the importance of closing the European migration pact because it is “binding” and cannot be vetoed by individual countries, in reference to Poland and Hungary.
“We know these positions and positions,” he said at the end of the European summit in Granada, southern Spain, referring to the declared opposition expressed by the two eastern countries.
However, he stressed that the agreement of the Interior Ministers on the last phase of the pact, reached last week in Brussels, “promotes the foundations of legislation that creates binding rules for the 27 that cannot be blocked by individual countries.”
The chancellor stressed that the common migration policy must be based on the double strategy of limiting irregular immigration and at the same time guaranteeing protection to those in need, facilitating the flow of labor.
For “many years” an agreement in this regard was not guaranteed, stressed Scholz, who expressed the hope that it will now be possible to overcome the alternation of vetoes “and develop something in common.”
To control the migratory flow, the chancellor referred to the agreements with countries of transit and origin and among them he highlighted the one signed with Turkey in 2016.
“I think this agreement has helped a lot in recent years and that is why it is important that the presidency and the Commission are negotiating the extension of this agreement with Turkey,” he said.
In reference to Poland, he criticized countries that send “two messages simultaneously”, by denouncing with harsh words a European policy that he describes as permissive with migration and, on the other hand, allowing free passage to immigrants who cross their territory to the Germany.
When asked about his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, who recently criticized the German parliament’s funding of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to rescue, Scholz said they both assured that they would find a “good and pragmatic” way to address the question.
“Everyone knows that Germany is the country that welcomed the most refugees, despite not having an external border. In many cases, they were allowed to enter without being registered,” he stressed.
At the same time, he pointed out that it was the German Parliament, and not its Government, that approved the funds for the rescue missions.
“We must carefully evaluate whether it makes sense to expand certain missions. We must ensure that the Mediterranean does not become a sea full of dead, and we must also ensure that traffickers cannot succeed,” he declared.
Previously, the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, had expressed his rejection of the “conclusions” on migration from the European Union (EU) summit in Grenada.
“I am the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland. I am responsible for the security of Poland and its citizens,” Morawiecki said on the X social network.
“For this reason, as a responsible politician, I reject [em maiúsculas] officially the entire paragraph on migration in the summit conclusions,” said the Polish Prime Minister.
Pressure from Poland and Hungary led this Friday to the elimination of a paragraph on migration from the final declaration of the informal European Council in Grenada, as these countries challenged the new migration rules and defended a unanimous vote.
The information was provided to Lusa by European sources, which indicated that the Granada Declaration – named in reference to the Spanish city where the informal summit took place – was approved unanimously, excluding the paragraph on migration.
This paragraph was previously replaced by a statement by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on the migration issue, according to the same sources.
This was always the point of greatest controversy at this Friday’s meeting, as Warsaw and Budapest insisted on mentioning the need for consensus, given the challenge of qualified majority voting. Unanimously, Hungary and Poland can veto.
The paragraph states that “migration is a European challenge that requires a European response”, in particular with regard to irregular migration, which “must be addressed immediately and decisively”.
Upon arrival at the meeting, the prime ministers of Hungary and Poland said there was no chance of reaching an agreement on a migration and asylum pact in the European Union and that they “outright” vetoed the understanding announced this week.
Source: TSF
