Economy
Hungary Orbán: "mixed results" at EU migrant summit, Croatian border closure on agenda
welcomed states backing a refugee package for Turkey to help slow the flow of migrants to the EU, but Orbán complained that there is still no willingness to close the Greek border. A national security meeting will decide on early Friday afternoon whether to activate the closure of the Hungary-Croatia border, Bruxinfo summed up the key results of yesterday’s EU summit.
Mixed results
A European Council meeting on Thursday on the control of the EU’s external borders has brought “mixed results", said Orbán. He noted that it was an important step forward that Brussels managed to agree with Turkey on the main points of an action plan to slow the influx of migrants into the EU. At the same time, he complained that he saw no signs of a breakthrough regarding the closure of the external borders in Greece.
“The agreement with Turkey has not been finalised yet, but we have given the mandate to complete the task. Until then, however, the Greek border should have been closed, which would bring relief to Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Croatia. However, there is no power, determination and political will to do that," he added.
National security cabinet will hold a meeting on Friday afternoon
Orbán did not give an unequivocal response to the question whether - in view of the results of the EU summit - Hungary will put into effect the closure of the Croatian border. At the same time, he announced that he has convened a national security cabinet meeting for early Friday afternoon to review the situation and make the necessary decisions. Answering a question he added that the same mechanism would be implemented on the Croatia-Hungary border that was put in place on the border with Serbia.
Shortly before these remarks Croatia’s Prime Minister told journalists he does not believe Budapest will actually implement the border closure measures. “But if it did so we are ready for any possibility," he added. Orbán, who has personally consulted with his Croatian peer at the summit, noted their views on the matter are different.
Orbán has praised the assistance offered by the Visegrad Four countries to control the EU’s external (Schengen) borders, calling it a good example of co-operation. The V4 countries have released a jointed statement shortly before the EU summit, saying that at the request of Hungary they are deploying police officers on the southern border of Hungary. The Czech Republic and Slovakia are sending 50 officers each and Poland will pitch in with 50 to 60 officers, who will most likely be shipped to the Hungary-Serbia border. Although it was a possibility, they will not be deployed on the Croatian border because it is not an external EU border but a border between two EU Member States.
Action plan for Turkey
The news of the day is undoubtedly an action plan agreed on by EU leaders yesterday. The EU has
offered Turkey a possible EUR 3 billion in aid and the prospect of easier travel visas and "re-energised" talks on joining the bloc in return for its help stemming the flow of migrants to Europe.
The "action plan" sets out to co-operate with Turkey on improving the lives of two million Syrian refugees in Turkey and encouraging them to stay put. EU leaders in Brussels yesterday also agreed to co-ordinate border controls to slow the influx of migrants crossing Turkey from Asia.
“Co-operating with third countries to stem the flows [...] welcomes the joint Action Plan with Turkey as part of a comprehensive cooperation agenda based on shared responsibility, mutual commitments and delivery. Successful implementation will contribute to accelerating the fulfilment of the visa liberalisation roadmap towards all participating Member States and the full implementation of the readmission agreement. Progress will be assessed in spring 2016," the European Council said in a statement late on Thursday.
“The EU and its Member States stand ready to increase cooperation with Turkey and step up their political and financial engagement substantially within the established framework. The accession process needs to be re-energized with a view to achieving progress in the negotiations in accordance with the negotiating framework and the relevant Council conclusions," it added.
Though the plan put no figure on "substantial and concrete new funds" the EU would offer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the figure of EUR 3 bn, which EU officials said Turkey had requested, had been discussed and seem reasonable.
"We welcome the agreement of an EU-Turkey joint action plan to tackle the current migratory crisis," summit Chairman Donald Tusk told the summit in Brussels on Thursday, adding that the agreement is a "major step" in the direction of stemming the influx of refugees.
"Even if the influx of refugees slows down during winter, we must be ready for spring and the threat of bigger waves flowing to Europe," Tusk said. "In fact, all the leaders I met in the region spoke about millions of potential new refugees."
In exchange Ankara would step up border control and do everything in its power to stem the inflow of migrants/refugees into the EU. It would create human living conditions, jobs and earning possibilities for the Syrian refugees and comply with the extradition agreements signed with the EU and its Member States.
Turkey must first sign and implement a previously agreed deal to take back from Europe migrants who fail to win refugee status. "There must be no misunderstandings," Reuters cited French President Francois Hollande as saying.
European governments are wary of granting full visa-free access to 78 million Turks. Any liberalisation is likely to be limited at first to business travellers and students.
Leaders also agreed to "re-energise" moribund, decade-old negotiations on Turkey's application for membership of the European bloc, though they left open exactly how to do that, Reuters reported.
"The accession process needs to be re-energised with a view to achieving progress in the negotiations in accordance with the negotiating framework and the relevant Council conclusions," they said, in language couched cautiously to reflect concerns in Cyprus and other states about easing off pressure on Ankara.
“We have sent our experts to Greece and Italy to make the hotspots and relocation scheme function, and pushed all Member States to properly apply the EU's common asylum rules," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.
“We have seen concrete results, but we still need Member States to do more. Noble words need to be followed by concrete actions back home."
Concerning operational measures, the hotspot approach proposed by the Commission is now starting to function, with Migration Management Support Teams fully operational in Lampedusa, Italy, and being rolled out in Greece. This has allowed for the first relocations of asylum seekers to take place, as well as a number of return flights for irregular migrants with no right to stay.
The Commission has also worked with Member States to operationally prepare for resettlement of people in need of international protection directly from third countries, and the first Syrian refugees have already been resettled to Italy, the Czech Republic and Liechtenstein - which, as a Schengen Associated State, participates in the scheme.
In terms of budgetary support
The Commission recently also sent administrative letters requesting clarification on compliance with the EURODAC Regulation to Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Italy on 28 August 2015 and administrative letters requesting clarification on the adoption and enforcement of return decisions to Germany, Italy and Greece on 11 September 2015.
A European Council meeting on Thursday on the control of the EU’s external borders has brought “mixed results", said Orbán. He noted that it was an important step forward that Brussels managed to agree with Turkey on the main points of an action plan to slow the influx of migrants into the EU. At the same time, he complained that he saw no signs of a breakthrough regarding the closure of the external borders in Greece.
“The agreement with Turkey has not been finalised yet, but we have given the mandate to complete the task. Until then, however, the Greek border should have been closed, which would bring relief to Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Croatia. However, there is no power, determination and political will to do that," he added.
National security cabinet will hold a meeting on Friday afternoon
Orbán did not give an unequivocal response to the question whether - in view of the results of the EU summit - Hungary will put into effect the closure of the Croatian border. At the same time, he announced that he has convened a national security cabinet meeting for early Friday afternoon to review the situation and make the necessary decisions. Answering a question he added that the same mechanism would be implemented on the Croatia-Hungary border that was put in place on the border with Serbia.
Shortly before these remarks Croatia’s Prime Minister told journalists he does not believe Budapest will actually implement the border closure measures. “But if it did so we are ready for any possibility," he added. Orbán, who has personally consulted with his Croatian peer at the summit, noted their views on the matter are different.
Orbán has praised the assistance offered by the Visegrad Four countries to control the EU’s external (Schengen) borders, calling it a good example of co-operation. The V4 countries have released a jointed statement shortly before the EU summit, saying that at the request of Hungary they are deploying police officers on the southern border of Hungary. The Czech Republic and Slovakia are sending 50 officers each and Poland will pitch in with 50 to 60 officers, who will most likely be shipped to the Hungary-Serbia border. Although it was a possibility, they will not be deployed on the Croatian border because it is not an external EU border but a border between two EU Member States.
Action plan for Turkey
The news of the day is undoubtedly an action plan agreed on by EU leaders yesterday. The EU has
offered Turkey a possible EUR 3 billion in aid and the prospect of easier travel visas and "re-energised" talks on joining the bloc in return for its help stemming the flow of migrants to Europe.
The "action plan" sets out to co-operate with Turkey on improving the lives of two million Syrian refugees in Turkey and encouraging them to stay put. EU leaders in Brussels yesterday also agreed to co-ordinate border controls to slow the influx of migrants crossing Turkey from Asia.
“Co-operating with third countries to stem the flows [...] welcomes the joint Action Plan with Turkey as part of a comprehensive cooperation agenda based on shared responsibility, mutual commitments and delivery. Successful implementation will contribute to accelerating the fulfilment of the visa liberalisation roadmap towards all participating Member States and the full implementation of the readmission agreement. Progress will be assessed in spring 2016," the European Council said in a statement late on Thursday.
“The EU and its Member States stand ready to increase cooperation with Turkey and step up their political and financial engagement substantially within the established framework. The accession process needs to be re-energized with a view to achieving progress in the negotiations in accordance with the negotiating framework and the relevant Council conclusions," it added.
Though the plan put no figure on "substantial and concrete new funds" the EU would offer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the figure of EUR 3 bn, which EU officials said Turkey had requested, had been discussed and seem reasonable.
"We welcome the agreement of an EU-Turkey joint action plan to tackle the current migratory crisis," summit Chairman Donald Tusk told the summit in Brussels on Thursday, adding that the agreement is a "major step" in the direction of stemming the influx of refugees.
"Even if the influx of refugees slows down during winter, we must be ready for spring and the threat of bigger waves flowing to Europe," Tusk said. "In fact, all the leaders I met in the region spoke about millions of potential new refugees."
In exchange Ankara would step up border control and do everything in its power to stem the inflow of migrants/refugees into the EU. It would create human living conditions, jobs and earning possibilities for the Syrian refugees and comply with the extradition agreements signed with the EU and its Member States.
Turkey must first sign and implement a previously agreed deal to take back from Europe migrants who fail to win refugee status. "There must be no misunderstandings," Reuters cited French President Francois Hollande as saying.
European governments are wary of granting full visa-free access to 78 million Turks. Any liberalisation is likely to be limited at first to business travellers and students.
Leaders also agreed to "re-energise" moribund, decade-old negotiations on Turkey's application for membership of the European bloc, though they left open exactly how to do that, Reuters reported.
"The accession process needs to be re-energised with a view to achieving progress in the negotiations in accordance with the negotiating framework and the relevant Council conclusions," they said, in language couched cautiously to reflect concerns in Cyprus and other states about easing off pressure on Ankara.
“We have sent our experts to Greece and Italy to make the hotspots and relocation scheme function, and pushed all Member States to properly apply the EU's common asylum rules," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.
“We have seen concrete results, but we still need Member States to do more. Noble words need to be followed by concrete actions back home."
Concerning operational measures, the hotspot approach proposed by the Commission is now starting to function, with Migration Management Support Teams fully operational in Lampedusa, Italy, and being rolled out in Greece. This has allowed for the first relocations of asylum seekers to take place, as well as a number of return flights for irregular migrants with no right to stay.
The Commission has also worked with Member States to operationally prepare for resettlement of people in need of international protection directly from third countries, and the first Syrian refugees have already been resettled to Italy, the Czech Republic and Liechtenstein - which, as a Schengen Associated State, participates in the scheme.
In terms of budgetary support
- the Commission has already proposed amendments to its 2015 and 2016 budgets, boosting the resources devoted to the refugee crisis by EUR 1.7 billion.
- This means that the Commission will spend EUR 9.2 billion in total on the refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016.
- In an accelerated procedure, both the European Parliament and Member States in the Council have given their approval to the Commission's amended budget for 2015.
- Member States must now deploy national spending to match, as recognised by Heads of State and Government on 23 September.
- A large number of Member States still need to match EU funding for the UNHCR, World Food Programme and other relevant organisations (EUR 500 million), the EU Regional Trust Fund for Syria (EUR 500 million) and the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUR 1.8 billion).
The Commission recently also sent administrative letters requesting clarification on compliance with the EURODAC Regulation to Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Italy on 28 August 2015 and administrative letters requesting clarification on the adoption and enforcement of return decisions to Germany, Italy and Greece on 11 September 2015.
