The erection of walls and fences at the European Union’s outer borders does not mean that the refugee influx has come to an end. Prime Minister Rutte said this during a debate in the House of Representatives about the European summit that started today.
One of the topics at this summit is immigration. This includes the problem of better protection of external borders. For example, border fences are planned on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. During the discussion, Rutte emphasized that it will always be possible for refugees to apply for asylum.
“I want to clear things up a bit. We get something like this: we’re going to build a big ‘Berlin Wall’ around the EU. But if there is a fence or a wall, there are always doors in it,” he said.
coalition split
His own coalition is deeply divided over measures to stop the flow of refugees. VVD, CDA and ChristenUnie are more or less in favor of fencing the outer borders, but D66 is strongly against it. The party says this is pointless and only strengthens the revenue model for human traffickers.
Rutte thinks border fences can be “sometimes very useful”, but he believes better border surveillance can be achieved in other ways, such as mobile surveillance in border areas.
Proponents believe that the EU should pay to strengthen its external borders, but Rutte predicted that this would not happen. Many Member States are against this and also border control is their own task. However, it is possible for the European Commission to contribute to border fences.
law of diffusion
The prime minister is pressing leaders to discuss immigration at the summit. He promised his own VVD party that he would work to limit the flow of immigration in the European context.
On this condition, the parliamentary group passed a distribution law that could force municipalities to take in more asylum seekers.
Source: NOS
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
