Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
by Patrick Poppel, published on InfoBRICS.com, December 12, 2024
Europe reaps what it sows. ~jb
Initially, Austria was against Bulgaria and Romania joining the Schengen area because they were afraid that many migrants would come to the Alpine republic via these countries. But that’s different now. Austria drops its veto against the accession of Romania and Bulgaria as full members of the European Schengen Agreement.
After consultation with Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner will agree to the admission of the two countries at the upcoming meeting of EU Interior Ministers in Brussels. Austria’s vetoe on the accession of Romania and Bulgaria was justified by the fact that the two states had not taken sufficient measures to prevent illegal migration.
According to Karner, there were “tough but constructive” negotiations for two years until decisive progress was achieved with a new project for border protection. But it remains an open question whether border protection will really be that effective.
This decision comes precisely at a time when more refugees from the Middle East are expected in Europe. At the same time, thousands of “refugees” from Syria are protesting on the streets of the largest cities in Germany and Austria. These people are celebrating the change of power in Syria, but are not ready to return home. This fact now clearly proves that the mass migration in 2015 did not take place not because of the fear of a political persecution or war, but primarily because of economic reasons. These people will not return home.
This reality is now widely known, but the European Union lacks sufficient strength to send the migrants back to Syria. The bureaucracy in the EU is also another obstacle. After a difficult negotiation process, the migration pact was adopted by the member states in May. It includes changed regulations for the processing of arrivals at the EU’s external borders, the examination of asylum applications and the introduction of burden-sharing mechanisms between member states.
The process is currently in the implementation phase, which the new EU Commission is expected to drive forward during its five-year term in office. The first step is to submit national strategies, which are already proving to be a challenge for the Commission.
Several Member States may request an extension of the deadline for submitting their plans. In other countries, however, the plans are completed before the deadline (December, 12). It remains unclear how some states that have previously spoken out against the pact will submit their plans.
This particularly affects countries such as Hungary, which currently holds the EU Council Presidency, and Poland, which will take over in January. Both states play a crucial role in the implementation process.
The strategies are intended to enable the EU Commission to hold member states accountable and help the states themselves to clarify the necessary measures. Last year in June the EU Commission adopted a joint implementation plan with ten key areas. This plan describes in which areas Member States must adapt their national asylum and migration laws in order to comply with the new obligations.
The national implementation plans to be submitted serve as a perspective for the next 18 months. Full implementation of the pact is scheduled for June 2026.
A spokesman for the EU Commission said that the Commission does not plan to publish the documents. However, member states would have the opportunity to disclose their plans independently. Here one can legitimately ask whether more transparency is needed.
The plans are intended to analyze the gaps and needs that the EU Commission carried out last summer. Member States are expected to address these challenges. The EU member states are expected to present their national five-year strategies by June next year. These strategies will be incorporated into the adoption of the EU Commission’s five-year migration and asylum strategy until the end of 2025.
EU leaders will meet again next week, with migration among the key issues on the agenda. This shows that the issue of migration is one of the most important issues at the level of the European Union.
When carefully analyzing all the EU’s steps on the management of migration and the return of migrants, it can be clearly seen that the EU does not have the power to achieve success. The lack of political will, bureaucracy and incompetent politicians are the main problem.
It is clear to everyone that there will be no quick solution to these problems. Europe remains a continent that cannot withstand mass migration. This factor will lead to negative socio-economic developments that will have a lasting impact on the future of Europe.
Patrick Poppel is an expert at the Center for Geostrategic Studies (Belgrade).
