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Interior Minister Faeser defends asylum compromise
Photo: Olivier Hoslet / EPO
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has defended the planned reform of EU asylum rules and predicted a decline in the number of refugees in Germany. "This is a compromise that has never been reached before," the SPD politician told Bild am Sonntag. We control the external borders so that the borders within Europe can remain open."
It is clear that we will continue to protect people "who are fleeing to us from terrible wars, from torture and murder". But this responsibility will be distributed "on more shoulders" in the future.
Compromise in the asylum dispute
On Thursday evening, the EU interior ministers agreed to a compromise to end the long-standing asylum dispute. For the first time, it provides for asylum procedures at the EU's external borders, as well as a distribution of migrants among the EU states. If countries then refuse to take in people, they are supposed to pay a penalty payment of 20,000 euros per migrant into a fund managed by Brussels.
There was no alternative to a European solution, Faeser explained. "Not acting would mean allowing the misery at the external borders and the dying on the Mediterranean to continue."
The Minister referred to the reinforcement of the Federal Police at the borders with the Czech Republic and Poland: "Until the new rules take effect, we will also act nationally. We have significantly strengthened border protection measures to prevent unauthorised entry."
Faeser rejected controls at German borders. "Putting up barriers again would set us back decades." In addition, it would "massively damage our economy, the many commuters and families on both sides of the borders with our neighboring countries."
The CDU interior ministers Armin Schuster (Saxony) and Peter Beuth (Hesse) had previously called for temporary controls, depending on the situation, also at EU internal borders.
sms/dpa/AFP