Will Gaza refugees soon come to Europe? The CSU is sending a clear stop signal: The EU should not accept any refugees, says party vice-president Manfred Weber.
Munich – We help, but we don't help in Europe: CSU Vice Manfred Weber does not want to accept any refugees from the Palestinian territories. “The EU will be there to help with financial issues and logistical help. But Europe cannot, does not want to and will not be able to accept large numbers of Palestinian refugees,” Weber told the Munich Merkur.
According to UN estimates, the war, which has now lasted two and a half months, has made around 1.9 of the 2.4 million people in the Gaza Strip internally displaced. The war was triggered by Hamas' major attack on Israel on October 7th. Hundreds of fighters from the terrorist organization had committed atrocities against civilians in Israeli towns.
“Neighbors in the Middle East should help”
There is growing concern in politics that refugees could seek protection in Europe, but could also fuel anti-Israel sentiment there. Weber, who leads the party and group of Conservatives in Europe (EPP), is now drawing a clear red line. “When people have to flee from areas of civil war, when humanity is necessary in dramatic cases, Europe is always called upon. The Europeans are currently doing an enormous job, for example by taking in war refugees from Ukraine, i.e. from the immediate neighborhood.” It is therefore clear that if there are larger refugee movements from the Palestinian areas, “the immediate ones needed for temporary admission are primarily those that need to be taken in Neighbors in the Middle East region, less so the Europeans.”
Weber also calls for the asylum compromise approved by the EU states to be implemented quickly. “Neither dramatizing nor ignoring the problems of migration is right – we need solutions,” says the Lower Bavarian. That's why the agreement is so important. “Europe now has a plan that can work. This envisages: closed camps at the external border where people wait for their asylum procedures before they have legally arrived in the EU – and from where they can be returned directly if they are not entitled to asylum. This is a milestone.”
Weber praises Meloni's Albania deal
Weber called on the Greens to agree to this concept in the European Parliament in a few weeks. “Anyone who is not prepared to support this broad consensus in Europe on migration is promoting frustration, anger and right-wing radicalism. Now responsibility is required.”
He also explicitly supports the Italian government's deal to no longer bring refugees caught in the Mediterranean to Italy, but to Albania, where they should await their asylum procedures. “Anything that means thwarting the trafficking gangs’ business is worth supporting. These are the right ideas.” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni negotiated the pact, but it is still legally on shaky ground and politically controversial.
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