Brussels, 29/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann agreed during a telephone conversation on Wednesday 28 October that fences had no place in the EU, the Commission said on Thursday 29 October. In the conversation, Chancellor Faymann abandoned the idea advanced by his home affairs minister on Wednesday morning of constructing a fence along the border with Slovenia (see EUROPE 11420), something that has never been done between two countries of the Schengen free-movement area.
On Thursday, the European Commission called on leaders to take action to avoid a human tragedy and to waste no further time in implementing their decisions, including the “immediate” creation of 50,000 places for migrants on the Balkan route, said Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas. A teleconference among the eleven countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary, Greece, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania) that took part in the mini summit of 25 October on the Balkan route was due to take place in the afternoon of 29 October. “We expect these countries to produce concrete measures”, Schinas said.
It was agreed on Sunday 25 October that 50,000 places would be created on the Balkan route so that people travelling along it could find refuge and not have to sleep outside during their journey, said Natasha Bertaud, Commission spokesperson for migration. The 50,000 places due to be created in Greece seem rather to be more to “hold” migrants in that country prior to their being relocated to other EU states, requesting asylum in Greece or returned to their country of origin, said Bertaud on Thursday.
With further deaths being reported off the coast of the Greek island of Lesbos on Thursday, the Commission pointed out that, hitherto, only 86 refugees had been relocated, from Italy to Sweden principally. Finland, France and Spain are expected to begin taking their agreed shares of the relocated refugees next week and 30 people are still waiting to be relocated from Greece to Luxembourg. Juncker said in Strasbourg on Tuesday 27 October that currently relocation commitments number 700 (of the 160,000 promised).
Slovenia again asked its partners for help on Wednesday 28 October and warned them of retaliatory measures, including at its borders, if the promised aid did not materialise quickly. On Sunday 25, the leaders of the eleven countries pledged to send 400 police officers to Slovenia to help manage the flow of migrants. Bertaud said that, so far, six or seven member states had indicated their willingness to respect their commitment, with Austria and Germany having promised to send 8 officers between them. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)