Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer on Thursday strongly criticized European Commission Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson's statement on Wednesday regarding the Afghan conflict, according to which the European Union should provide legal and safe escape routes for those in need of international protection.
"The statement of the Commissioner of the Interior about legal escape routes is an absolutely wrong message," said Nehammer. " I thought that Europe had learned from the mistakes made during the 2015 refugee crisis and does not intend to make them again". The head of the department calls for immediate clarification and certainty that the European Commission really represents the opinion of the member states.
Speaking about Wednesday's meeting of the interior ministers of the EU member states, Nehammer stated that it was clearly about: "2015 cannot be repeated, and that is why we as a community of European states must convey clear messages, and the primary goal is to provide local protection and help".
In his statement on Wednesday, Johansson emphasized that the situation in Afghanistan is clearly not safe and will not be safe in the foreseeable future. He added that 80 percent of the people forced to flee are women and children. He also called on member states to “increase their resettlement quotas and offer more legal immigration options”….
... Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi discussed the handling of the Afghan crisis with Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin According to the officials, during the telephone conversation between Draghi and Macron, they discussed “the management of the various effects of the Afghan crisis, including the migration phenomenon, and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms….
...According to local media, Italy, which holds the consecutive presidency of the G20, is working to convene an extraordinary meeting regarding Afghanistan, which may take place in September. The sources neither wanted to confirm nor deny this possibility...
...The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan means that the West has failed, and if Western countries and the European Union also fail to deal with the consequences, trust in its values may be shaken, said German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer The minister emphasized that it is necessary to work on the management of the situation in Afghanistan with the awareness of the "huge responsibility" that the Western community of values is threatened by a "huge trust problem".
The consequences of the Taliban turn may also include waves of refugees, but it is impossible to predict what "migration movements" may start. It is conceivable that a few thousand or even several million people may flee Afghanistan , he said...
Source: Magyar Hírlap. The full article can be read here .
(Header image: Reuters)
