By Bill Ravotti for the Visegrad Post
European Union – It’s like a stuck old record (remember those) playing the same tune over and over again: The headlines are full of more illegal migrants arriving in Italy, Greece, Spain, etc on their ‘journey’ to the rich EU. In Bosnia, every winter brings the same old media drama regarding the plight of so-called “unaccompanied minors”, who are not concerned about comfort as much as finding an entry path to the EU.
Nothing ever changes. While the invasion continues non-stop… so do the fake EU promises of deportations, which never happen in any meaningful way.
How long can the EU and Germany keep up this deceptive show that they somehow can efficiently manage migration or that Frontex actually defends the borders, while promising future returns that never materialize?
There are many concerns regarding the EU migration reform bill, but four areas stand out.
1. So-called flexible solidarity.
The goal of Soros and his allies in Brussels is to overwhelm Europe into submission, with or without mandatory migrant quotas (now using a deceptive substitute slogan called ‘flexible solidarity’).
However, “flexible solidarity” is just another German trap to commit the EU to endless ‘relocation schemes’ while trying to deceive the public with false narratives regarding future deportations.
What is this misleading term called “flexible solidarity”? Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer vaguely touched upon it: “If a country doesn’t do its part taking in refugees, then it needs to support ‘the system’ in other ways…Whether its sea rescues or retrieving children from Greece or taking in refugees, at the moment it is always only a few countries jumping in,” he said.
Maybe it’s those few countries which are the problem. Since when is solidarity defined by the wishes of France and Germany?
However, the V4 and CEE states must not fall for this trap or declare victory if migrant quotas are not mandatory. Few remember that even George Soros was against the mandatory quotas, knowing there were quieter, less controversial ways to flood the EU with illegal migrants.
The new EU slogan of ‘flexible solidarity’ is designed to enshrine the relocation of illegals into EU reform. Supporting “the system” – indirectly or directly – that relocates illegal migrants across the EU is facilitating human trafficking. This only encourages more illegal migration.
Moreover, this is an EU dominated by the western bloc; flexibility has a very short shelf-life in Brussels. Once this EU migration genie is let out of the bottle, the others will eventually require all to participate directly
All member states will eventually suffer the consequences. In the long term, both with free movement and the looming demographic tsunami in the West EU bloc, it will be virtually impossible to maintain one’s sovereignty and way of life as an EU ‘member state’.
2. Relocation first, promises of deportations later.
There is one clear choice that the EU must grasp quickly…immediate mass deportations out of Europe or it will lose “the game”.
But deportations have rarely occurred, especially outside of Europe, and there is absolutely nothing on the table that suggests this will change. As usual, the details regarding deportations (the missing link to any solution) rely on future promises while relocations are emphasized first. Why are these priorities not reversed to insure that deportations occur first?
Without mass deportations out of Europe (not just the EU), once the EU relocation schemes kick into full gear, expect calls for a general amnesty to follow in the future. Once overwhelmed, the EU establishment will claim that it is impossible to deport in such large numbers and that it is much more manageable to just ‘legalize’ the illegals.
3. Defending borders without pushbacks.
Another major flaw with EU migration reform is Frontex itself. The EU will soon have its own Frontex troops and agencies to monitor national border guards. No doubt, they will target Croatia, Slovenia, Greece and Hungary for “pushbacks” at the border. But just how does EU Frontex intend to ‘defend the borders’ while punishing those states which are actually defending the borders? One can come to their own conclusions about the EU Commission’s real intentions.
Unless the EU changes its directives regarding pushbacks or simply ignores them, Seehofer’s border proposal cannot work, unless someone else knows another method to stop the aggressive male migrants from breaking through…or as Seehofer says “to turn them away”.
And how does one process asylum claims at the sea borders of Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta before the illegals enter the EU?
On the boat is a possibly, so long as armed guards are onboard to prevent the situation that just occurred in Malta, where migrants threatened violence to the crew to force disembarkment. Still, most are illegal and would have to be “turned away”. Is the EU prepared to transfer them back to Africa by the way they came…by the boatloads?
Another option could be processing centers in a few African countries, but this would require consent and reliance on third parties, which can be subject to the type of blackmail one sees from Turkey. In addition, countries in Africa have already rejected this scheme.
And what about the NGOs migrant transfer boats…is the EU prepared to prevent them from entering the territory of Malta or Italy? They are not.
4. EU agencies deciding asylum requests.
One of the most vital questions to ask is what agency will be providing independent monitors to help decide asylum requests? This is a danger in itself, considering the EU’s constant expansion of the definition of a ‘refugee’ to include migrants in ‘refugee-like’ situations. Some are even inventing new cases, such as climate, corona or even health care refugees.
It is no secret that almost all of the illegal immigrants do not qualify for protection. This could easily turn into the EU model that changes the game and turns illegal migration into legal migration by changing the method of transfer and enlarging the pool of eligible refugees. This is not a detail that can be just glossed over.
To be frank, this entire migration reform is typical German/Merkel/Seehofer smoke and mirrors…tough sound bites used as bait to please the public (and to keep Salvini and others out of power) while working to set up an EU-wide distribution mechanism to commit the EU to mass migration.
However, the EU could be very helpful to the European nation states if it focused on one area…linking ALL EU foreign aid and assistance to a countries willingness to quickly take back its own citizens. Without this leverage to adjust attitudes, foreign leaders will continue to make it impossible to deport in any meaningful way. In addition, instead of funding migrant welcoming centers across Europe, the EU can utilize these funds to help the nation states with the costs associated with mass deportations.
The V4 and CEE states must unconditionally reject an EU-wide migration policy that circumvents the national migration policies of the nation states based on principle. With the exception of linking EU foreign aid to deportations, national governments must determine their own asylum and border procedures, not Brussels.
It easy to propose a goal (no entry without approval first) that everyone can agree to. However, it is much harder to actually posses the fortitude and determination needed to take the tough but necessary measures to achieve that goal.
This is the problem with Germany and the EU Commission. While Viktor Orbán has what it takes, Horst Seehofer and the Eurocrats in Brussels do not.