AForeign Minister Annalena Baerbock has shown herself open to preliminary asylum checks at the EU’s external borders, but insists on compliance with human rights standards. Asylum procedures at the external borders are “curse and opportunity at the same time,” the Green politician told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “Border procedures are highly problematic because they interfere with civil liberties.” But the EU Commission’s proposal is the only realistic chance of achieving an “orderly and humane distribution procedure” in an EU of 27 very different countries in the foreseeable future.
“That’s why we’re negotiating hard in Brussels to ensure that nobody gets stuck in the border procedure for more than a few weeks, that families with children don’t get caught up in the border procedure, that the right to asylum isn’t fundamentally undermined.” When asked if her party Go along with that, said Baerbock: “It depends on whether our European human rights standards are respected.” The line is very narrow, critical questions are important.
“But not acting would have bitter consequences,” warned Baerbock. Without a common European response, the trend is already everywhere towards “more isolation, more pushbacks, more fences”. And without order at the external borders, it is only a matter of time before one EU country after another starts talking about internal border controls again.
On June 8th, the EU interior ministers want to deal with the topic again in Luxembourg. The EU states are currently trying at full speed to agree on the basics of a reform of the European asylum system, which has been the subject of heated debate for years. In particular, the question of whether there should be preliminary checks on asylum applications at the European external borders and a possible distribution of refugees in Europe is controversial. There is room for checking immediately after registration in external border states whether someone has a chance of protection or not. The background are proposals by the EU Commission from 2020.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) spoke out in favor of a preliminary asylum check at the external borders at the beginning of the month.
