- Published: 02.03.2016.
Schengen has no alternative for managing migrant crisis, say Tusk and Oreskovic
Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic and the visiting European Council President Donald Tusk agreed during their talks in Zagreb on Wednesday that applying the Schengen regime in managing the migration crisis had no alternative.
They also pledged assistance to Macedonia, which has been hit by a huge influx of migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa.
I will be absolutely clear, Schengen rules have no alternative, and the implementation of those rules can be the foundation for a comprehensive European solution, Tusk said at a joint news conference with Oreskovic.
Tusk stopped in Zagreb during his tour of the Balkan migrant route ahead of an EU-Turkey summit meeting on this issue set for next week. "There's no alternative to respecting the Schengen Code. Only the Schengen rules can be the basis of a comprehensive European solution," Tusk said at a joint press conference.
Tusk had arrived in Zagreb as part of a tour of the countries along the Balkan migrant route, ahead of a summit with Turkey and a European Council meeting in March at which a comprehensive European plan for the migrant crisis is expected to be adopted.
European leaders are opposed to unilateral border restrictions on the Balkan route and want the influx of migrants to be stopped in Turkey and on the border between Turkey and Greece.
Oreskovic said that the Schengen rules should be observed and that Greece, which is taking the brunt of the refugee crisis, should be assisted as much as possible. He added that assistance should also be extended to Macedonia, where Croatia has already sent its police support.
Oreskovic said that the Croatian government would launch a procedure to amend the relevant law to make it possible for the army to help the police in guarding Croatia's borders in the event of a humanitarian need.
Restrictions on the flow of refugees and migrants, first introduced by Austria and then by other countries on the Balkan route, have resulted in chaos on the Greek-Macedonian border, with more than 20,000 refugees stranded there in cold weather.
Tusk said that Macedonia needed assistance in managing "a crisis that is testing our union to the limits" and causing tensions in the EU and the region.
"The EU understands the difficult situation of the authorities in Skopje. We cannot and we should not leave them alone in this situation," Tusk said, adding that the EU member states must be mobilised to help with the humanitarian crisis in Greece and other Balkan countries, he added.
Insisting on the Schengen regime, Tusk reiterated the earlier position of the European Council that the migrant crisis cannot be resolved by unilateral measures, but by stepping up the protection of the EU's external borders, establishing functioning refugee collection centres in Greece and sharing out the migrants and refugees among the EU members.
"We have to avoid an illusion that instead of full respect for the Schengen rules there might be another, even convenient European solution. Respecting the Schengen rules will not solve the migration crisis, but without Schengen we have no chance to resolve it," Tusk said.
He said that there was no alternative to cooperation with Ankara, stressing that the EU-Turkey action plan, under which Turkey committed to reducing the influx of migrants into European in exchange for financial assistance and political concessions, must be set into motion as soon as possible.
The EU-Turkey Summit is scheduled for March 7 and the European Council is due to meet on March 17 and 18.
(Text: Hina)
Maybe you are interested in...
- Situation in Croatia stable and safe, says interior minister
- Prime Minister Oreskovic says deal with Turkey good for refugees, Europe and Greece
- Prime Minister Oreskovic attending key EU-Turkey summit
- Prime Minister Oreskovic: Balkan route closed without any tension
- Prime Minister Oreskovic: Closing Balkan route should be main message
- More