Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday underlined her call for
European counterparts to do more to find a solution to a historic wave
of migrants seeking asylum, as documents showed the European Commission
will lay out potentially controversial proposals to better share the
burden of the spiralling crisis.
Some 22,000 migrants crossed from Hungary via Austria into Germany
over the weekend, according to police estimates, after authorities bowed
to pressure to accept one of the largest waves of displaced people
since World War II. The influx of migrants has left the EU scrambling to
respond and countries at odds about instituting a quota system, with
poorer EU members resistant to taking a broader share.
Angela Merkel said yesterday that the record refugee influx to
Europe's biggest economy will change the country, which was now seen by
many abroad as a place of "hope".
"What we are experiencing now is something that will occupy and
change our country in coming years," she said after 20,000 migrants
arrived at the weekend alone.
"We want the change to be positive, and we believe we can accomplish that," she added.
Merkel said scenes of spontaneous solidarity from hundreds of Germans
who greeted families fleeing wars in Syria and beyond at railway
stations with gifts and welcome signs were "very moving" and
"breathtaking".
A
migrant carries a child between rows of Hungarian police officers to
get on a bus at a collection point in Roszke village in Hungary
yesterday. The EU executive has drawn up a new set of national quotas
under which Germany will take in more than 40,000, and France 30,000
refugees. Photo: Reuters
"That is something very valuable, especially in view of our history,"
she said, expressing joy that "Germany has become a country that many
people abroad associate with hope".
She stressed that other EU countries must take in more migrants
because "only with common European solidarity can we master this
effort".
Merkel called for a "solidarity-based and fair distribution of
refugees" and said the "Europe based on values must show its face".
Germany -- which expects 800,000 asylum requests this year, four
times last year's total -- said her country could face costs of 10
billion euros ($11 billion) next year.
"That order of magnitude doesn't seem implausible to me," she said at
a joint press conference with centre-left Vice Chancellor Sigmar
Gabriel.
Their ruling coalition pledged an additional six billion euros in
federal funds for 2016 and said the rest of the money would come from
states and communes.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking after a weekend in which some
20,000 migrants made their way to Germany from Hungary by train, bus and
on foot, described the events of the past days as "breathtaking" and
tried to reassure German citizens that the crisis was manageable.
"This is something to cherish when you look back at our history," she said.
"What isn't acceptable in my view is that some people are saying this
has nothing to do with them," Merkel said. "This won't work in the long
run. There will be consequences although we don't want that."
Many politicians praised Merkel's decision to let thousands of
migrants traveling through Hungary into the country, but she also faced
criticism, both from conservative coalition members at home and
anti-immigration politicians abroad, who accused Germany of attracting
even more refugees to the continent.
Merkel repeated yesterday that the decision was a one-off move
responding to an emergency situation, but her spokesman Steffen Seibert
said he couldn't say when the situation would return to normal.
German measures attempt to better control the current influx of
asylum seekers, notably by reducing financial incentives for migrants.
The parties also proposed to change German law to declare more Western
Balkan countries -- Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro -- as “safe countries
of origin” to limit the number of people eligible for asylum.
She told reporters in Berlin that Germany will ensure that those who
need protection receive it, but that those who stand no chance of
getting asylum will have to return to their homes swiftly.
