Once Welcoming Germany Talks Tougher On Asylum Ahead of Elections; Italy and Britain Pledge Joint Action Against ‘illegal migration’; Poland and Hungary Reject EU Plan for Migration Reform

Once welcoming Germany talks tougher on asylum ahead of elections:

At the height of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015 Germany was heralded for its open-door policy, with images broadcast worldwide of citizens welcoming asylum seekers fleeing war and deprivation in the Middle East with flowers and donations.

Eight years later, however, the mood has soured, with parties across the political spectrum rushing to outbid one another on ways to curb irregular migration – ranging from cutting benefits to capping the number of people granted asylum.

Last week, the centre-left government ramped up border controls within what is normally the European Union’s zone of open travel. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser urged Germany’s 16 states on Wednesday to provide asylum seekers with material benefits rather than cash, to reduce the country’s pull factor.

Migration analysts say much of the tougher stance is electioneering ahead of elections in Hesse and Bavaria on Sunday and in three eastern German states next year.

But such unilateral moves by Europe’s largest economy risk having a cascade effect and burdening eastern neighbours with fewer resources, stoking tensions across the region.

“The number of refugees trying to get to Germany is too high at the moment,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday, departing from predecessor Angela Merkel, whose declaration “Wir schaffen das” (“We can do this”) became a mantra.

“This cannot go on,” Scholz was quoted as saying by RND network on Saturday.

The number of people requesting asylum in the 27-nation EU has risen 38% since 2019 to nearly one million last year, close to the record 2015 and 2016 levels, according to data from the EU’s Agency for Asylum.

A quarter of all those requests were made in Germany, making it one of the states with the highest rates of applications per capita. This year, it has seen requests soar around 80%. —>READ MORE HERE

Italy and Britain want to lead the way in Europe in the fight against “illegal migration”, the right-wing prime ministers of the two countries said in a joint op-ed published on Friday.

The article is another show of unity between two governments whose tough approach on immigration has come under fire from charities and human rights advocates.

“Our perspectives and our goals are the same. In fact, we are two of the closest friends in Europe today,” they wrote in the Corriere della Sera and The Times newspapers, also noting their shared views on Ukraine and defence cooperation.

“We are working together to stop the boats and we are calling on others to act with the same sense of urgency,” Meloni and Sunak said, a day after co-hosting a meeting on immigration with other European leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also took part in the talks, held on the sidelines of a wider summit in Granada, Spain.

At this meeting, “leaders committed to take action to support one another to tackle the challenges of illegal migration,” Meloni and Sunak said, adding: “We’re proud that Italy and the UK are leading on this together.” —>READ MORE HERE

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+++++Poland and Hungary reject EU plan for migration reform+++++

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