Instead of looking in the mirror and doing the least bit of self-assessment of the refugee crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pointed the finger at Austria and nine Balkan countries, then at Greece, in an interview with Bild.
Despite the fact that Greece is broke, in an economic depression, and cannot possibly pay back debts owed to creditors, Merkel told Greece to shell out money to accommodate 50,000 refugees.
Please consider Merkel Pressures Greece to Step Up Refugee Aid, Bild Reports.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel boosted pressure on the Greek government to step up its capacity for sheltering refugees, pledging that the European Union will assist the country with the task.
Greece fell short of its aim of setting up shelter for 50,000 asylum seekers fleeing Syria and the Middle East by the end of 2015, Merkel said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag.
“The backlog needs to be made up posthaste,” Merkel told the German newspaper. “I know from my talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that he wants that too, but that that he needs our help to do it.”
Thousands of refugees are stranded in Greece. Merkel in the Bild interview blamed the humanitarian crisis on other European states that tightened their borders against the influx, blocking passage north, where most asylum seekers have sought shelter in more accommodating countries such as Germany. The chancellor has said the blocked borders endanger Europe’s system of passport-free travel, known as Schengen.
Merkel’s Failure to Self-Assess
The Chancellor owes the EU an apology for her foolish welcome of refugees after which millions poured into Greece on the way to Germany. Instead of doing any bit of self-assessment, she blames others. Merkel also fails to see the obvious flaws in her pressuring Greece.
Merkel’s Failure to See the Obvious
- Greece cannot afford to do what Merkel asks.
- Merkel did promise aid, but that is not her promise to make. Regardless, Greece needs that aid upfront, not down the line.
- Essentially, the chancellor is pressuring Greece to take care of refugees first, and its own citizens second.
Merkel’s Proven Inability to Think Ahead
Approximately 2,000 refugees a day arrive in Greece. Assuming Greece has sheltered 20,000 or so now, it will fill up its quota in 15 days.
If Greece gets to return half of that influx on the basis that 50% of the new arrivals are non-Syrian, then it will take a month.
Three Questions for Merkel
- Dear Chancellor, what happens after Greece shelters the 50,000 refugees you forced upon the country?
- Dear Chancellor, what then? Will you pressure Greece to take 100,000? 200,000?
- Dear Chancellor, when will you admit it’s you who made a mistake, not Austria?
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
It certainly seems like Merkel has lost her mind. The solution is for Germany [the only one who can afford it] to fund refugee camps on the greek isles where the refugees are landing and to provide an armada of small boats to head off and return any boats leaving turkey for the isles. It would also be a good idea to fund refugee camps on the Syria side of the turkey/syria border. I guess this is not obvious or politically correct or something.
Greeks don’t want their islands turned into refugee camps, Greece cannot turn back boats at its maritime border, it would have to start sinking boatloads of refugees to stop them.
Greece has been giving boat rides from Greek islands to mainland Greece and giving bus rides in mainland Greece to the border with Macedonia and Tsipras has stopped all border enforcement and released everybody in detention in January 2015 so Tsipras and Syriza are responsible for the huge increase in people coming during 2015 because they sent the signal that everybody can go through Greece.
Germany and Merkel and Sweden and Lofven are also responsible for the mess but Tsipras is the third one most to blame for the catastrophe.
Greek facing border should be completely SHUT by Macedonia and Bulgaria and Albania should keep their borders with Greece SHUT also and nobody would come to Greece anymore because the only reason people come to Greece is to reach western european welfare-countries.
EU needs to stop their “solutions” which make the situation WORSE and remove burden sharing and remove eu-hotspots which give the signal EU will spread people from Greece around europe so people should continue coming to Greece.
But in the article Merkel is still calling for open borders through to Germany ! Seems she wants detention centres in Greece and thinks that will be that . Who is she to manage Greek affairs ? I don’t even think Greece is breaking any obligations it has to EU .
Mutti Merkel is “out of touch”. Expect the next round of german elections to be more radical, and more disruptive. I’d be shocked if Merkel’s CDU stays in power.
Anyone know when the next round of DE elections take place? Probably the most meaningful election outside of the USA…
Don’t hold your breath. The Germans are the stupidest nation in Europe. She is sure to be reelected.
I think, at this point, none of the numbers being discuss can be taken at face value. Is it really 50,000 or 20,000 being “trapped” in Greece? And as for the “border controls”, are the refugees really being stopped in Turkey and Greece?
I sense a big charade being played here- the numbers are higher and the border controls aren’t really working, and I have yet to see a single authenticated instance of a non-qualified refugee being sent packing. I think the avalanche of lies has started in full.
The communist government in Greece have not even tried to defend their borders, their policy has been all along to have open borders to refugees, whom they then have passed on to northern Europe and particularly to Germany.
Angela Merkel have been more than happy to accept a flood of refugees into Germany (god knows for what reason). The msm have supported her policy all along, while the population has become divided and more hostile to the endless flow of more refugees.
Blaming Greece is useless. All EU countries give migrants/refugees who enter their territory the right to be heard. Greece has an ocean border that it cannot fence, that borders directly onto Turkish waters. Get real, Greece cannot stop migrants heading out of its territory, is not obliged to indefinately confine them, nor even house them.
Merkel is unfortunately deluded, for whatever reason, blaming Greece seems to be part of that delusion, and you share it with her. Germany is responsible for its border and its policy, no one else’s, so as far as her pretense at blaming other countries, quite frankly she should be told to f*ck off, and to her face. She is out of her depth and incapable as a leader at this level.
All the land borders with Greece should be SHUT so Nobody would want to come to Greece anymore because the only reason people want to come to Greece is that through Greece they can reach western european welfare countries.
NOBODY comes to Greece wanting to stay in Greece so therefore if the only option when coming to Greece would be to stay in Greece NOBODY would come and therefore NOBODY would drown between Turkey and GReece anymore.
I blame Greece… I blame Germany… I blame EU… But what’s the point in blaming ? This is what they want it seems.
Katsau – that is all you can do , take care of your own national border and not invite people you cannot absorb . The knock on effect would work its way back down the line to where migrants originate . That is a national policy decision any country is free to take , even within EU and Schengen. Unfortunately national leaders seem/seemed to think that they could use EU to sort it out , major disconnect from reality , or possibly one great bluff being used to form a new European authority in these matters … which is still disconnected from my viewpoint .
Yoshua – it is what they want , because after blame comes ‘solutions’ . That is why many are upset , proper action was not taken when needed and now there are only costs.
Tsipras and Syriza stopped all border-enforcement in January 2015 and let everybody being processed or in detention free and gave them a ride to Athens and let everybody go through Greece to MAcedonia’s border and onwards to western Europe.
Thereby Tsipras and Greece sent a signal that EVERYBODY can go through Greece so the numbers rose quickly and making matters worse was Swedish government GUARANTEE to accept every syrian reaching Sweden so they knew if they got to sweden they would get free apartment, free money and family re-unification straight to welfare.
Then Germany made the same promise and then Angela Merkel welcomed everybody and then Angela Merkel said that dublin-treaty of first country being responsible would no longer apply and everybody is welcome in Germany and they can manage and Merkel let everybody come from Hungary to Germany and created the precedent and belief that no matter if other countries tried to stop people and follow the rules Mama Merkel would wave them through and let everybody come and get a free apartment, free money and family re-unification straight to welfare from Germany.
Then Merkel and Germany and Lofven and Sweden were surprised that everybody wanted to come and the system broke down completely under the weight of the numbers of people Germany and Sweden had irresponsibly INVITED to come.
Other western european countries like Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Finland and Denmark were also responsible because each gave asylum-status based on the story the asylum seekers told in one interview and the right kinds of stories which had been accepted were circulated in Facebook by previous asylum seekers so everybody could learn and memorize a story which would get them and their family a free life for the rest of their life and nobody would get caught in their lies because eu-directive demanded a decision in under 6 months and recommended just one interview after which the decision should be made.
Then the news could not anymore supress the rapes, gangrapes and mass-harrassments because there was just too many of them to hide by authorities fearing racist thoughts in the facebook age just like facebook groups of wannabe asylum seekers let everyone know which country offers the best benefits and in which countries the bureaucrats are completely inept and believe almost every fairytale told to them.
“Shortly after taking power in January, Greece’s new government opened the gates of one of the main detention centers where thousands of undocumented migrants had been held against their will after arriving on the country’s Mediterranean shores.
Many of the inmates, including refugees and children, were driven to Athens and released, in what Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s leftist government hailed as the beginning of the end of inhumane migrant policies of the past.
Now the move has created other problems. With the influx of migrants from Africa and the Middle East rising this year, hundreds have ended up like 40-year-old Syrian Dia Qasem and her three sons: stuck in the Greek capital’s public squares with nowhere to sleep and little eat.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-greece-idUSKBN0NE2EM20150423
Sure – AND WHY NOT?
Greece can do as it feels like on its territory.
The border into Macedonia is Macedonia’s problem, not Greece’s.
Germany’s border is Germany’s problem, not Greece’s.
Macedonia’s border with Greece MUST be closed completely and Greeces other mainland neighbors Bulgaria and Albania must keep their borders with Greece also closed and then EU must tell that NOBODY will get from Greece to the welfare paying western european countries which give free apartments, free money and family re-unifications straight to welfare and EU must also STOP eu-bureaucrats insane “solutions” like burden sharing aka spreading asylum seekers from Greece around europe by EU and eu-hotspots aka processing asylum claims quickly in Greece and giving people refugee-status based on their story and then spreading people around europe by EU and the rush towards Greece will stop.
Nobody comes to Greece because they want to be in Greece, they only come because they want to go through Greece to western european countries giving free apartments. free money and family re-unifications straight to welfare.
If the only option upon reaching Greece was to stay in Greece NOBODY would risk their life and come to Greece from Turkey therefore the drownings would stop after closed borders so closing borders is the most humane solution.
Nobody is being persecuted in Turkey, the asylum seekers are completely SAFE in Turkey and get free tent, free food and free water in Turkey so everybody going from Turkey to Greece is NOT fleeing anymore they are seeking benefits and western style material lifestyle for free.
Maybe Merkel is on her way out:
Germany has their own plans to close Germany’s borders and REJECT asylum seekers at their borders:
” While Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, insists she wants to keep Europe’s borders open, plans leaked to German newspaper on Sunday suggest that her government is drawing up measures to reinstate its own national controls.
In what Welt am Sonntag newspaper called a “clear threat to the EU”, sources said that Germany was considering turning away asylum seekers at the border.
Such a move could leave countries that have been critical of Mrs Merkel’s “open-door” refugee policy struggling to cope with hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Sources close to Thomas de Maiziere, the interior minister, told Welt am Sonntag that he had ordered officials to draw up plans to close the borders.
“For de Maiziere, the time of waving the refugees through is over,” the sources said.
Sigmar Gabriel, Germany vice-chancellor, has commissioned a report on the possible economic consequences of closing Germany’s borders.
In Bavaria, the state government has ordered police to make preliminary preparations to reintroduce permanent border controls and start turning away asylum seekers. ”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/12176862/Germany-threatens-to-close-borders-to-refugees-to-put-pressure-on-its-neighbours.html
All politicians have no experience running anything. They just want to be in charge. They say and do dumb things like telling a bankcrupt Greece to pony up money to fix a problem Germany and other EU countries created.
Human rights watch also should take part of the blame for the huge numbers of people coming through Greece to Europe in 2015 because they demanded that greek border guards should stop doing their job and just let everybody go through and that detention should be stopped:
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“There is mounting evidence and expression of concern by the UN refugee agency that Greek border guards push back and expel migrants and asylum seekers at the borders with Turkey, and engage in ill-treatment and dangerous maneuvers at sea that put people’s lives in danger. The new government should immediately take steps to end unlawful pushbacks. Parliament should exercise its oversight powers to examine the scope of these illegal actions, determine whether they have amounted to a de facto policy, and identify those responsible.
Following the suicide of a Pakistani man in the Amygdaleza detention center on February 13, the government vowed to keep its election pledge to shut down migrant detention centers within the next three months. Prior to this incident, the government had already announced the end of immigration detention beyond the 18 months permitted by EU law. Migrants and asylum seekers, including children, are systematically detained, often in appalling conditions, for prolonged periods. Since December 2013 alone, the European Court of Human Rights has condemned Greece eight times for inhuman and degrading conditions in immigrant detention facilities.”
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/02/19/greece-address-longstanding-rights-issues
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This HRW demand caused more people to come when Greece stopped border enforcement and stopped detention under Syriza and Tsipras and therefore more people drowned between Turkey and Greece because of the position HRW took.
10 flights per day. That’s all it’ll take. 10 plane-loads of refugees flown direct from Athens to Berlin each day.
Like all liberals – delusional
Really good article by Washington Post showing how the asylum seekers motivation is free apartments, free money and family re-unifications on welfare for iranians, afganistanis and iraqis and how Angela Merkel’s irresponsible insanity of saying everybody is welcome is what made them try to come to get what western european welfare countries provide.
The Syrians were also completely safe in Turkey and they are completely safe in Greece but neither Greece nor Turkey give free apartments, free money and family re-unifications on welfare.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/as-the-route-to-europe-closes-migrants-journey-through-grief/2016/03/05/d2a48022-e09b-11e5-8c00-8aa03741dced_story.html
NOBODY wants to come to Greece to stay in Greece because Greece does NOT provide western european style free everything welfare therefore if there would be NO way to reach western europe from Greece NOBODY would come and therefore nobody would drown.
Stories of persecution by these asylum seekers are either vague persecution stories or vague stories about they being threatened or lies they read in facebook groups which had been used before by successful asylum applicants to fool the inept bureaucrats whose job is scored on the speed they process applications for asylum (after stupid EU-directive demanding decisions under 6 months) and no notice is taken if they let clear liars and cheats through and give them free life on welfare paying counties.
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