French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel today called for more solidarity within the EU in solving the refugee crisis in a joint address to members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Hollande told MEPs that France and Germany will continue to adhere to the principles of solidarity, tolerance and a firm stance in solving the problems facing the EU. He emphasized that only through unification can Europe find solutions to the problems it faces.
"We have to organize ourselves better for the reception of refugees in the EU. We have to make sure that people in the big refugee camps can find jobs, because otherwise they will almost certainly move towards us. We have to set up big reception centers for registration. We have to fairly distribute the burden of refugees on all EU member states," he said.
Hollande emphasized that more must be done to help Greece, Italy, the Balkan countries, which are struggling to accept a large number of refugees, and Turkey.
The French president said that the EU must take a firm stance in solving the crisis in Syria and must find a way to offer the people of that country an alternative, something more than Bashar al-Assad on the one hand and the Islamic State on the other.
"The Islamic State is fighting against everything that Europe represents, while the current regime in Syria has led to this catastrophe and continues to commit crimes. We should work to ensure that all international actors, the countries of the Persian Gulf, the USA, Russia and Europe find a common solution to resolving the conflict in Syria," Hollande said.
Hollande told the MEPs that Europe must not become defensive, that it must face its fears and show more responsibility and solidarity.
"We have to decide whether we want to have a strong Europe or we will have the end of Europe. It has been 25 years since the unification of Germany and we still face challenges. We have to decide whether we want to live in a coherent unity for the next centuries or we want to go back in the XNUMXth century," Hollande said.
Merkel told the members of the European Parliament that the large number of refugees permanently changes the agenda of the Union and that all member states will have to take a long time to solve the causes that lead to these mass migrations.
"More Europe is needed now. The EU is a community of values, that must not be abandoned. A few countries will not solve the refugee crisis alone, but we will all do it together. We must not return to the framework of nation states and decision-making within nation states", Merkel said.
The German chancellor emphasized that it must be made clear to economic migrants that they cannot stay in Europe, as this is the only way to help people who have the right to international assistance.
"It is necessary to enable refugees to integrate more easily into European societies. Their responsibility is to learn the language and respect our rules. Our responsibility is to see them as people, not an anonymous mass, even when they cannot stay with us," said Angela Merkel.
During her address to the MEPs, Angela Merkel stated that the Dublin agreement proved to be unusable and insufficient, as well as that she advocates for a new agreement within the EU and an even distribution of the burden of refugees on all 28 member states.
Hollande and Merkel's joint address to the European Parliament marked 25 years since German unification, but represented a symbolic gesture of European unity at a time when the EU is facing deep divisions. In November 1989, French President François Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl addressed the members of the European Parliament after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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