The European Union is not ready for a repeat of the migration crisis that occurred in 2015 against the backdrop of the war in Syria.
This opinion was expressed by the Prime Minister of Slovenia Janez Jansa, speaking at the XVI International Strategic Forum in the city of Bled.
“As for the situation with Afghanistan and the likelihood of a new wave of migrants, it seems to me that the EU Council yesterday (August 31 -
RT
) made a decision.
And it is final.
None of the EU members are ready for a repeat of the 2015 situation.
None of the EU member states is ready for a repeat of the 2015 situation with open borders that arose after the crisis in Syria, ”said Yansha.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed a similar point of view, stressing the inadmissibility of displacing the indigenous inhabitants of European states by refugees from the outside.
“We don't need newcomers to replace our citizens who already live here, just from a mathematical point of view.
If you invite people from outside Europe, the cultural identity of Europe will change.
Some countries agree to this, but Hungary is not among them.
We do not want to change the cultural identity of our country, ”Orban said.
Countering mass migration
The statements of politicians came after the extraordinary session at the level of interior ministers in the framework of the EU Council held on 31 August.
As a result, the participants issued a statement stating the inadmissibility of mass migration from Afghanistan to Europe.
“Based on the lessons learned from the past, the EU and Member States are determined to take joint action to prevent a repeat of the uncontrolled large-scale illegal migration that we have faced in the past, and a coordinated and orderly response will be prepared for this.
The emergence of incentives for illegal migration must be avoided, ”the communiqué says.
#JHA |
Home affairs ministers discussed the situation in #Afghanistan today in Brussels.
They also agreed on a statement.
Main results of the meeting ➡️ https://t.co/JNyFNaKl8Rpic.twitter.com/pYepKnLnn9
- EU Council (@EUCouncil) August 31, 2021
In this regard, it is reported about the intention of the European Union to strengthen support for the neighboring countries of Afghanistan in the region.
In particular, we are talking about financial assistance through the relevant international financial organizations.
“The EU will also work with these countries to prevent illegal migration from the region, strengthen border control capacity and prevent smuggling of migrants and human trafficking,” the statement says.
In addition, the representatives of the countries agreed to strengthen the external borders of the union, relying on the Frontex border guard service, and "to help the most severely affected member states."
Flags of EU member states in Brussels
Reuters
© Yves Herman
At the same time, the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs assured that they would continue to evacuate their citizens and, if possible, Afghans who collaborated with the EU countries during the operation of the Western coalition, and their families from the republic.
Also, following the meeting, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ilva Johansson announced the convening of an international conference to resolve the issue of resettlement of refugees from Afghanistan.
“As a follow-up to today's session of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in September, I will convene a high-level forum on resettlement to discuss specific priorities with Member States and develop sustainable solutions for the most vulnerable Afghans,” Johansson tweeted.
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As part of the follow up to the # JHA @ EUCouncil today, I will convene, in September, a High Level Resettlement Forum to discuss concrete priorities with Member States and provide sustainable solutions to those Afghans who are most vulnerable, particularly women ...
- Ylva Johansson (@YlvaJohansson) August 31, 2021
According to her, it is planned to develop a coordinated approach to creating safe and legal routes for resettlement.
Earlier, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke about the need for such a forum at a press conference following an extraordinary video conference of the leaders of the G7 states.
In her opinion, not only the EU countries, but also everyone who assisted the US-NATO operation in Afghanistan should take part in the fate of refugees.
At the same time, she admitted that within the union itself there is still no agreement on the number of refugees that the EU will accept.
"You can't close your eyes"
Head of the European Parliament David Sassoli, who also spoke at the forum in Bled, expressed his disappointment with the outcome of the meeting in the Council of the EU.
Many countries have opened their doors to Afghans fleeing the Taliban *, he said, but "no EU country" has done the same.
“Everyone thinks only of those who worked with us and their families, but no one has the courage to offer refuge to all those whose lives are still in danger today.
We cannot pretend that the Afghan issue does not concern us, since we participated in this mission, sharing its goals and objectives, ”Sassoli said.
Solidarity is what holds Europe together.
We were disappointed with yesterday's Home Affairs Council.
We cannot pretend that the Afghan question does not concern us.
Europe needs to live up to its values and give a common response.
My speech at # BSF2021https: //t.co/EptkaLu2sGpic.twitter.com/n7XX2dXCuM
- David Sassoli (@EP_President) September 1, 2021
Meanwhile, earlier Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had already announced his unwillingness to see migrants on the territory of the European Union, stressing that while he is in leadership, the country will not accept new migrants.
He argued for his position by the fact that the integration of refugees already living in Austria is proceeding with great difficulty.
“By accepting 44,000 Afghans, Austria has done a lot.
On a per capita basis, we have the largest Afghan community after Iran, Pakistan and Sweden.
There are still big problems with integration, so we are against accepting more people, ”said Kurz on Twitter.
Turkey also refused to host new refugees, which in 2016, by agreement with the EU, hosted Syrian migrants in exchange for funding.
“Turkey has fully fulfilled its moral and humanitarian obligations regarding migration.
There can be no question of an additional wave of refugees, ”TASS quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying at a press conference following talks with his German counterpart Heiko Maas.
Thus, he supported the position of the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who on August 20 said that "Turkey has no duty, responsibility or obligation to be a repository of refugees for Europe."
Instead, he called on the European Union to take responsibility for the migration crisis in the region and not to distance itself from the problem by closing borders.
Realize the scale
According to experts, despite the migration crisis of 2015-2016 experienced by the Europeans, the EU did not prepare for its possible recurrence, although there was time for that.
The reason for this state of affairs, analysts say, is the unresolved issues that arose in the first wave and remained in limbo.
“Today the EU countries are not ready to agree on how to find answers to a potential challenge, therefore they are trying to find external opportunities.
However, even if the EU manages to partially agree with its regional partners, this does not mean that Brussels will remove this problem from itself in the medium term, since there will be channels for transporting illegal Afghan refugees to Europe, " Security Institute of Europe RAS, MGIMO professor Dmitry Danilov.
He stressed that this factor will cause an increase in other risks associated with terrorism, internal radicalization of European societies and political divisions within Europe.
Nikolai Mezhevich, Chief Researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also said that the attempts of the European Union to delegate its responsibility to the countries of the region were explained.
“Considering that the previous migration policy did not bring positive results, European countries decided to rethink their policy towards refugees, so the stake is not on encouraging them, but on curbing migration flows,” he stated.
Afghan refugees in a camp near Belgrade in Serbia
Reuters
© Fedja Grulovic
The expert said that the reason for this development of events is the deplorable results of the integration of the previous wave of migrants, who for six years have not become part of the European community.
In this regard, analysts believe that at the upcoming international forum on the issue of resettlement of refugees, all discussions will be reduced to the search for those to blame for the current situation.
“The main model of the conference will be the translation of the arrows.
European countries will redirect this problem to other states, for example the United States, or offer money in exchange for curbing the flow of migration.
But this is unlikely to work, because not all countries are interested in doing this, ”Mezhevich said.
Dmitry Danilov also agrees with his forecast.
In his opinion, it is likely that the EU will again raise the issue of the distribution of quotas for refugees, which have been criticized by the countries of the same “Visegrad four” since the last time.
“The European countries will argue among themselves about the extent to which the European Union is able to take on quotas and will try to blame the United States for the situation in Afghanistan.
Therefore, most likely, this conference will show that there can be no serious international agreements on the issue of migrants, especially outside a broad context based on the participation of all interested parties of the international community, ”concluded the expert.
* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.