The strategy of the German Council Presidency has failed
Press release on the EU meeting of interior ministers on asylum
on 14.12. 2020
At today's EU Conference of Interior Ministers, the European Interior Ministers will discuss, among other things, the proposal for a European migration and asylum pact.
My comment:
"The strategy of the German Council presidency has failed. It wanted to force a European solution by demanding that the suffering at the external borders only be eliminated by European consensus. Now we continue to have suffering, chaos and violence against those seeking protection, but still no solution. If you want to reach the finish line at some point, you can't always wait for those chaining themselves at the starting point. Especially if you've been waiting for over 5 years.
All Horst Seehofer has to show for EU asylum policy is a progress report without any progress. The member states continue to disagree on key points. The German Council Presidency has made no progress towards a common European asylum system. Instead, we are facing another winter of unheated tents and illegal violence by the authorities against those seeking protection. In order to put an end to these undignified conditions, we don't need a new pact, but rather the enforcement of EU law. It needs member states to step forward and show that we won't let protection seekers freeze to death or be put down in Europe because we haven't yet found consensus in warm offices."