The EU wants to reform its asylum policy. Despite the agreement, there are still unanswered questions, but the signal is important, comments Mike Schier.
Munich – Are the Greens now experiencing their Hartz IV moment? Twenty years ago, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, with his radical shift in social policy, plunged the SPD into an emotional crisis that the party had to nibble on for many, many years. Today it is the Realo part in the Greens leadership that gives his party a reality shock in asylum policy. Then as now, given the circumstances, the realignment is absolutely correct. But this time, too, it leads one party to the ordeal. In any case, the conflict between Fundis and Realos, which was thought to have been overcome, breaks out again openly.
EU countries want new asylum policy: Division of forces necessary
But the truth is: far and wide there is no majority in Europe for the pure Green doctrine. SPD Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was not even able to push through the special treatment of families and children at the external borders. And that is by no means only due to the many conservative and right-wing governments. Rather, it is the war in Ukraine that signifies a turning point not only for defense and energy policy, but also for asylum policy. Where suddenly millions of inner-European refugees are on the move, the continent has to divide its forces. Green local politicians have also been complaining for months that it is simply not possible to accommodate, educate and take care of everyone.
Of course, there are still many questions after this deal. How effective will the asylum check be? How do you ensure that those seeking protection are accommodated in a humane manner? But the signal remains important: Europe wants to overcome the chaos (and death) on the Mediterranean or Balkan routes. At the same time, those who are not entitled to asylum are deterred. Both are necessary. The fact that, like in 2003, it is a left-wing government that is driving this forward is part of the irony of history. In any case, Interior Minister Faeser has achieved a lot of what her predecessor Horst Seehofer failed miserably. (Mike Schier)
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