AForeign Minister Annalena Baerbock has complained about the ongoing disagreements between the EU states on migration policy. “The dying in the Mediterranean is Europe’s open wound because we have not managed to come to a common migration and refugee policy,” said the Green politician of the “world” (Monday). “As difficult as it is, we must and will continue to work hard on a common position. We must not leave the states on the external borders alone, neither with the people who have been rescued from distress at sea, nor with the people who arrive at the external borders but are not entitled to asylum and have to be returned.”
Baerbock had been asked whether the EU needed another sea rescue mission to prevent dozens of people from drowning in the Mediterranean – like recently off the Italian coast. Baerbock said: “We need shared responsibility and we need to strengthen solidarity. That’s why I think it’s so important that there is a European sea rescue service.”
In the coalition agreement, the Greens, SPD and FDP had stipulated that they would strive for state-coordinated and European-sponsored sea rescue in the Mediterranean. They spoke out in favor of a “fair division of responsibility between the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea for sea rescue” and for people to be taken to safe places after the rescue.
The EU countries have been arguing about their migration policy for years. In essence, it is about the question of whether and how people seeking protection are distributed in the EU. Because there is no progress, the countries have recently focused primarily on better border protection and cooperation with third countries. For years, civil organizations – including from Germany – have been deployed in the central Mediterranean to take in migrants and refugees with their ships.
Baerbock calls for greater cooperation on armaments policy
In addition, Baerbock called for a common line on arms exports. The Russian war of aggression has shown that ammunition and equipment between European countries are not automatically compatible with each other, Baerbock told the “Welt” (Monday). “That’s why we are now working with our partners to develop a strategy on how we can also cooperate more closely in terms of industrial policy in the armaments sector. That also means that we need a common line for exports.” So far, there have been “very different national attitudes” to this, which is a particular challenge with joint projects.
Baerbock demanded that decisions on arms exports should be in line with foreign policy. “If we strongly condemn the bombing of civilians, we cannot export the ammunition there at the same time. That is why we need common European rules on where to export to.” It must also be determined what happens to export licenses that have already been issued in the event of the most serious violations of human rights.
The foreign and defense ministers of the European countries want to discuss further support for Ukraine in Brussels on Monday. The main focus should be on the delivery of urgently needed ammunition. The background is concerns that Ukraine could be missing important types of ammunition in the near future. This particularly applies to artillery shells.
The EU Commission and Foreign Affairs Commissioner Josep Borrell had therefore recently presented a plan on how possible deliveries could be accelerated. On the one hand, this involves deliveries from national stocks and, on the other hand, a joint purchase of artillery ammunition. Two billion euros could be made available for this from EU funds.
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