Brussels, 01/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 1 March in Vienna, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, highlighted the importance of returning to the Schengen area rules of free movement. This trip to Vienna is the first stage of a three-day tour of the Western Balkans, which will end in Turkey this Friday.
Tusk explained that his trip sought to restore the Schengen area of free movement. The summit between the European Union and Turkey and the subsequent European Council on Monday 7 March in Brussels have been described as decisive for the future of the area of free movement. During his trip he will inform the different countries of the most recent conclusions from the European Summit 18-19 February and the fact that they must implement, “without exception”, the Schengen Border Code rules (see EUROPE 11493).
Tusk explained that applying the Schengen rules did not mean bringing Schengen to an end but rather, on the contrary, preserving the conditions for implementing European rules in a coordinated way. The President of the Council pointed out “While our work on a common European plan continues, key decisions are taken in capitals”. He said that this situation corresponded to a “normal situation” in a Union of sovereign countries. The former Polish Prime Minister added “I know that restoring effective controls on the borders is not an easy decision”. In an attempt to more closely approach the Austrian position that unilaterally set out quotas for migrants arriving on its territory, Tusk said that there was no alternative to this “difficult truth”, which should be understood by everyone in Europe and discussed by the member states around the table.
On the question of Greece, where a humanitarian crisis threatens (the other article), President Tusk called on the Union to look at the humanitarian impact of their decisions. He emphasised that “The country which we must support in particular is Greece. The number of migrants arriving in Greece is on the rise not because they want to make Greece their home, but because they are hoping that from Greece they will move to other European countries. A test of our Europeanness will be on the one hand, going back to Schengen, and on the other, our readiness to stand by Athens during these hard times”.
He again called on cooperation with our neighbours to be improved, beginning with Turkey and added “Europe is ready, as it has already demonstrated, to grant substantial financial support to the countries neighbouring the war-torn regions. But at the same time we expect a more intensive engagement from our partners, as an absolute pre-condition to avoid a humanitarian disaster. This will be the subject matter of my talks in Turkey this Thursday and Friday”.
Speaking about the specific situation in Austria, which set out a daily quota of asylum seekers and migrants transiting its territory, the President of the European Council acknowledge that the situation of the country was difficult, with it having to welcome 90,000 refugees in 2015, which explained the frustration expressed by Austrians. Tusk explained “Patience is running out while populist forces are coming to the fore. Yet it is precisely in moments like these that we need to keep our cool. We need to stay focused on developing and implementing a comprehensive European plan, and on doing so quickly”. He remains “convinced” that Austria will help to establish a European consensus on how to tackle the migration crisis. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)