German invasion

[Gob]

Mandatory quotas determining how many migrants each European Union country should take in are a "first step", German Chancellor Angela Merkel says.

She was speaking as the EU continues to grapple with a huge influx of migrants, which peaked at the weekend.

The European Commission is set to announce plans on Wednesday, including quotas, to distribute 120,000 migrants among member countries.

Germany says it can cope with more in the future but wants the burden shared.



Mrs Merkel was speaking alongside the visiting Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven. Their countries have so far taken in the most Syrian asylum seekers.

Calling the European Commission's proposals "an important first step", Mrs Merkel added that the EU needed an open-ended "system to share out those with a right to asylum".

Earlier, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said Germany could cope with "at least 500,000 asylum seekers a year for several years".

Germany, which has waived EU rules to welcome thousands of Syrian migrants, expects more than 800,000 asylum seekers in 2015 alone - four times the 2014 figure.

The quotas issue has exposed deep divisions within the EU.

Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Romania have voiced reservations. But on Tuesday, Poland appeared to soften its position, Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz saying the country would accept more migrants than the 2,000 it first offered.

Spain, too, has now said it will accept whatever number is proposed by the European Commission.

[Crackpot]

It occurred to me that all those republicans who want a small weak central government should check out how that's working for the EU.

[rubato]

There are two questions.

The first is what is the moral obligation?

The second, and secondary, one is how should the moral obligations be apportioned fairly?

A moral people will seek to do their part no matter if everyone else does so. And then they will do a little more.

And yet some have behaved in a depraved and amoral fashion in this crisis.


We, the United States and the EU, more the EU than us, have allowed this crisis to develop and continue for many years and it is our moral obligation to deal with the effects of it.


yrs,
rubato

[dales]

[Long Run]

It occurred to me that all those republicans who want a small weak central government should check out how that's working for the EU.

Inapt analogy alert.

[Crackpot]

How? sure they are different systems and no one with a handful of intellegence in this forum has promoted such a weak central government but that doesn't mean that such a weak federal government hasn't been proposed. ( I've personally heard of such proposals from many hyper libertarian tea party types)

[rubato]

The analogy is apt. Exactly apt.

The EU is weakly governed in this case because it cannot apportion refugees to EU members and require them to take them, or to provide their share of the support when it comes to humanitarian missions rescuing people crossing the Med in unsafe boats. Both of these problems have been going on for years with Italy, Greece, Spain and a few others absorbing most of the influx and paying for most of the naval interventions.

Proponents of weak central governments always wind up denying reality.



yrs,
rubato

[wesw]

mmmmm. grog think LongRun right.

grog no like rube s logic.

grog no speak same language.

all greek to grog.....

[rubato]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/s ... m-policies

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/201 ... story.html

The European Union has made asylum-seeking a confusing process, a patchwork of conflicting laws across the 28 member states, with a requirement that the country in which the refugees first arrive determine their status. EU border states are often the countries least willing or able to do so. Asylum claims are unevenly distributed across the EU and infrequently granted at the border.

More dangerous than the legal morass that refugees face is the relentless political hostility they encounter. Stimulated by economic crisis and the weakness of EU institutions, far-right political parties across Europe fan the flames of xenophobic nationalism and influence the political agenda. In Hungary and other EU countries, anti-immigrant legislation has created new barriers to political asylum. Right-wing rhetoric dehumanizes the asylum-seekers. Security officials confront refugees in an explosive atmosphere, provoked by antimigrant gangs.
View Story

Further evidence of the continued failures of weak central government in the EU comes in hourly.


yrs,
rubato

from the globe link above:

Editorial: Three ways to help fix the migrant crisis in Europe

The only long-term solution is to put a stop to the conflicts that force people from their homes in the first place.

Desperation has made the refugees easy prey for criminal human traffickers, like those responsible for the drowning of thousands of people in flimsy boats, or the suffocation of 71 men, women, and children in a locked truck found on an Austrian autobahn.

At a grass-roots level, courageous Europeans are responding to the crisis by organizing humanitarian assistance in their countries. In Hungary, volunteers, including faculty and students from my university, are helping groups like Migration Aid provide the stranded refugees with food, clothing, shelter, information, and, perhaps most important, compassion. Others are calling on their governments to enforce international law and assure the fair adjudication and distribution of asylum cases across EU countries.

Beyond these individual actions, however, a broad political response is needed to push back the xenophobic politics fueling the crisis. The EU must simplify its asylum procedures, require its member states to take refugees in numbers proportionate to their populations, and provide massive resettlement assistance to national authorities.

The German government has shown signs of an enlightened approach to the crisis that can lead the way in Europe. The historical amnesia must be lifted. Beyond Europe, the world needs to intensify efforts to end the wars in Syria and other places from which the refugees are fleeing. Having played a central role in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and its allies have an obligation to help those who are trying to escape. The Gulf states — including Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as Russia — bear responsibility for exacerbating the conflict in Syria.

The ghosts of a Europe torn apart by violence and repression in the 20th century must be confronted anew. The images of families trapped in trucks, trains, and camps, and the drowned bodies of children washing ashore should galvanize leaders to act. The European Union was created to assure that the refugee catastrophes of the last century would not be repeated in this one. Today’s crisis is a test of that founding principle.

John Shattuck is president and rector of Central European University in Budapest.

[Gob]

Agreed, I've long argued that the UK is best leaving the EU.

[MajGenl.Meade]

...and blowing up the Chunnel

[Gob]

"Heavy Fog In Channel. Continent Cut Off. "

[Gob]

Germany is to introduce temporary controls on its border with Austria to cope with the influx of migrants, the interior minister has said.

Thomas de Maiziere said refugees could "not choose" their host countries and called on other EU states to do more.

Trains between Germany and Austria have been suspended for 12 hours.

Germany's vice-chancellor has said the country is "at the limit of its capabilities" as more than 13,000 migrants arrived in Munich on Saturday.

Germany expects 800,000 migrants to arrive this year.

"The aim of these measures is to limit the current inflows to Germany and to return to orderly procedures when people enter the country," Mr de Maiziere told a news conference.

He gave no details. The move goes against the principle of the Schengen zone, which allows free movement between many European countries. However, the agreement does allow for temporary suspensions.

Germany's rail service Deutsche Bahn said train services with Austria would be stopped until 03:00GMT on Monday.

Ah, Merkel may have woken up then.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Two decades of frontier-free travel across Europe unraveled on Monday as countries re-established border controls in the face of an unprecedented influx of migrants, which broke the record for the most arrivals by land in a single day.

Germany's surprise decision to restore border controls on Sunday had a swift domino effect, prompting neighbors to impose checks at their own frontiers as thousands of refugees pressed north and west across the continent while European Union ministers argued in Brussels over how to share the burden.

Signs of spreading sanity.

[Gob]

More EU countries have said they are imposing border checks to deal with an influx of migrants.

Austria, Slovakia and the Netherlands said they would tighten controls, hours after Germany imposed checks on its border with Austria.

Hungary also completed a fence along its border with Serbia, and blocked a railway line used as a crossing point.

Meanwhile in Brussels, EU interior ministers agreed in principle to relocate 120,000 asylum seekers.

Luxembourg, which holds the EU presidency. said the decision was expected to be made law when ministers meet on 8 October.

There were no details on how the asylum seekers would be shared out among EU states. Some countries have opposed plans for mandatory quotas.

European states have been struggling to cope with a record influx of migrants, many aiming for Germany.

[wesw]

damn, if they just had enough guns, there are enough of them to go take their land back and rescue their countries from tyranny....

[oldr_n_wsr]

Wonder how many ISIS undercover people are in among the legit refugees?

[Gob]

It's going to get messy...

Austria saw the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants on Saturday, amid bitter rows among EU nations on how to handle the growing crisis.



The migrants were initially sent into Hungary by Croatia, which said it was unable to cope with the 20,000 who had arrived since Wednesday.

Hungary in turn shipped them on to Austria, accusing Croatia of breaking rules by failing to register migrants.

However, some told the BBC that Hungary had not registered them either.

On Saturday Austrian police said about 9,000 people had crossed the border from Hungary since midnight, about 5,000 at Heiligenkreuz, near the city of Graz, and 4,000 at Nickelsdorf near Vienna.

It expected at least 10,000 by the end of the day.

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner accused neighbouring countries of failing to follow EU rules, expressing concern that migrants were also arriving from Croatia via Slovenia.

One migrant who crossed into the Austrian town of Heiligenkreuz from Hungary told the Associated Press news agency: "I feel like I've been born anew. It makes no difference whether I am delayed, whether I stay here two days. The important thing is that I've finally arrived and that I am now finally safe."

Croatia has seen 20,000 migrants entering from Serbia since Wednesday and after initially welcoming them said it was unable to cope and moved them on.

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic admitted there was no agreement with Hungary.
"We forced them, by sending people up there. And we'll keep doing it," he said.

[rubato]

Wonder how many ISIS undercover people are in among the legit refugees?

Doing the right thing means not allowing yourself to be overcome by hysterical fear:




yrs,
rubato

[dales]

Interesting how the tragic death of the young boy was the ongoing narrative for awhile, not so much anymore.

I believe that a REAL CONCERN IS THE ISIS TERRORISTS using the refugee crisis to their advantage. Only a dammed fool would think otherwise.