Merkel reaffirmed her stance on migration:BORDERS TO REMAIN OPEN, NO UPPER LIMITS TO HOW MANY COME
Europe’s conservatives fight over Merkel’s refugee speech
The refugee crisis is dividing Europe’s conservative parties. The German chancellor wants to do as much as possible. But the Hungarian prime minister is calling for a hard crackdown. Bernd Riegert reports from Madrid.
Bernd Riegert
DW.com
23.10.2015
As usual, the European People’s Party (EEP) statutory congress, held this year in Madrid, was planned as a harmonious family celebration, and as a bit of an election boost for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is up for re-election on December 20. Yet, the continuing refugee crisis quickly turned the convention, held in a windowless concrete bunker next to the airport, into a spontaneous refugee summit of conservative heads of state – who were present in large numbers.
Before they officially presented their positions to the EEP’s delegates, a small group of leaders met in private. Participants say that the closed door meeting was very contentious. Afterwards, on the stage in the main hall, harmony was once again the order of the day. Large blue posters emblazoned with the word “Together,” showed just what the conservatives, who govern almost half of the EU’s member states, were seeking.
Merkel: ‘Everyone must be treated humanely’
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) maintained her principle stance that borders must remain open and that there can be no upper limit to the number of refugees and asylum seekers that the EU takes in. “Everyone that arrives in Europe has the right to be treated like a human being! We did not create the Charter of Fundamental Rights so that we could treat people from other places inhumanely,” Merkel told the representatives of 75 parties from 40 countries.
She repeated her motto: “We can do it!” She also said the EU would have to work with Turkey, and restore the border between NATO partners Turkey and Greece to a “legal” state. Thousands of refugees arrive on the Greek islands by boat each day.
Merkel did not mention the chaotic situation along the Balkan route. She appealed wholeheartedly to the unity of her colleagues seated next to the stage. “We must fairly distribute the burden and the tasks among ourselves. With each contributing what they can according to their abilities and their means. It has always been that way in Europe, and that is a formula for success. Therefore, I will not stop fighting, so that we can also master this, perhaps our largest challenge in decades, in solidarity.”
Orban: ‘Europe is weak’
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