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Federal Minister of the Interior Faeser (SPD) urges “an efficient and crisis-proof asylum system”
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Frank Ossenbrink / imago images / Frank Ossenbrink
The Union has criticized the announcement by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) that she would forge a “coalition of receptive member states” together with several other countries on the EU refugee issue. "The top priority for a German interior minister must now be to send clear stop signals and not to issue any new invitations," said CDU interior expert Christoph de Vries of the "Bild" newspaper on Monday. Germany had "borne the greatest humanitarian burden in Europe for many years".
Faeser said on Friday that the situation on the border with Belarus shows that the EU needs "an efficient and crisis-proof asylum system".
Germany could imagine "moving forward on the way to a jointly functioning EU asylum system with a coalition of receptive member states".
Her first talks with France and Italy on migration issues had been promising.
Seehofer pushed similar plans
"The problem of migration cannot be solved by a few countries going it alone," said CSU MEP Markus Ferber "Bild".
Faeser should "expend more energy on working together in Europe than on dividing Europe."
The EU asylum reform has been blocked for years.
Countries like Hungary or Poland categorically reject the distribution of incoming refugees to all EU countries.
Faeser's predecessors Horst Seehofer (CSU) and Thomas de Maizière (CDU) also supported plans for a “coalition of the willing” in different variants – but they were unable to break the blockade.
"It is Germany's responsibility to bring Europe together on the big issues instead of dividing it," said CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt.
»The new traffic light spirit in migration policy is a specter for the European idea and shows a lack of respect for the attitude of our neighboring countries.«
Dobrindt further told the dpa news agency: "Anyone who unilaterally sets new incentives for more migration endangers unity in Europe and the open borders in the EU." Faeser obviously did not understand that Europe means "to gather everyone behind an idea, instead of asserting one's own ideology against others".
However, there is support for such plans from the Green coalition partner.
"A coalition of the willing is the only way out," said the chairman of the EU committee in the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter, of the AFP news agency.
"At the moment, he doesn't see that we can come to a common conclusion on this issue with member states like Hungary or Poland."
Hofreiter also pointed out that "a whole range of cities and municipalities" were prepared to "take in refugees".
muk/dpa/AFP
