German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Sunday that it is still possible European Union leaders could fail to reach an agreement on the controversial multi-billion post-coronavirus recovery plan and long-term budget for the shattered EU economy.

“I still cannot say whether we will find a solution,” Merkel said as the summit was extended into Sunday for the third day. “There is a lot of willingness, but there are many different positions… It is possible that there won’t be a result today.”

The talks, in Brussels, were convened to agree on an unprecedented €1.85 trillion ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and economic recovery package.

But leaders remain deadlocked on what strings should be attached to the aid component meant to help the bloc’s 27 members repair the damage caused by the pandemic.

Read more: Germany seeking unity on identifying threats to the EU

European Council spokesperson Barend Leyts wrote on Twitter that the meeting will now reconvene at 12 p.m. (1000 UTC/GMT) on Sunday.

An EU official, who wished to remain anonymous because the talks were ongoing, said late Saturday that summit host Charles Michel was “tying up some ends now” before breaking for the night and reconvening with a new proposal early Sunday.

‘Frugal four’ seek smaller aid package

The size of the recovery package has been the biggest bone of contention as the Netherlands, along with Austria, Denmark, Sweden — the so-called “Frugal Four” — as well as Finland have put their weight behind a smaller fund and smaller portion of grants.

They demanded that any loans or grants should be accompanied by strict conditions to ensure the countries that are under heavy debt carry out labor market reform.

Germany and France have been pushing for an ambitious package of loans and subsidies to member states, and have repeatedly appealed for a compromise.

Read more: Serbia feels ‘blackmailed’ after Brussels talks with Kosovo

Franco-German walkout

Tensions heightened Saturday evening when Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron got up and walked out of a meeting.

The Franco-German alliance is seen as vital to any major deal within the 27-nation bloc.

When asked what he thought, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: “They ran off in a bad mood. We will continue tomorrow.”

Nevertheless, he remained hopeful.  “The fact that we continue talking shows we all have optimism. But if we will succeed, we have to wait and see,” he added.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz added: “It is of course, as you would expect, a tough struggle, a tough negotiation, but we’re moving in the right direction, and that is the most important thing.”

Read more: Germany finds new coronavirus generosity ahead of EU summit

Fresh plan wasn’t enough

On Saturday, a revised plan was presented to the 27 leaders to try to break the deadlock. The proposal would see a reduction in the share of the free grants issued to EU states, and an “emergency brake” on the disbursement of funds.

The plan would also increase rebates on the core EU budget for Austria, Denmark, and Sweden.

A lot is at stake for the leaders’ first face-to-face summit since the pandemic was declared. The bloc faces its worst-ever recession and countries need cash fast to shore up their economies from pandemic-induced crises.

The 27-nation bloc’s economy is estimated to contract 8.3% this year, according to the latest predictions.

Old resentments resurface

As Sunday’s talks prepared to resume, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Rutte of hating him personally and wanting to “punish” his country.

Hungary, along with Poland and Slovenia, is resisting possible strings tied to EU aid, including over rule of law violations. Speaking to reporters, however, Orban insisted he was not opposed to reform, only that it would take time. He then launched into a tirade against the Dutch leader.

“I don’t know what is the personal reason for the Dutch prime minister to hate me or Hungary. But he is attacking so harshly and making very clear that because Hungary in his opinion does not respect the rule of law it must be punished financially,” Orban said. “That’s his position, which is not acceptable because there is no decision about what is the rule of law situation in Hungary,” he added.

Orban said he initiated a proposal during the summit “to ask the Germans to give a guarantee that the European Council of EU will negotiate and make a decision on the rule of law procedure against Hungary.”

mvb/mm (AFP, AP, Reuters)

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/eu-summit-angela-merkel-warns-of-possible-no-deal-on-recovery-aid/a-54224418

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The post 20,000 Armed Migrants Ready to Enter via EU Border – Report first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

European countries in the Mediterranean like Greece, Italy and more recently Spain feel abandoned to manage the influx alone, and tensions over how best to handle migrant numbers — which pale in comparison to refugee arrivals in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan — have increasingly fueled support for far-right parties in Europe.

“We can’t just say that a country with a border on the sea is suddenly the only one responsible” for migrants, said Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. “The problem is European and the solution should be a European one as well.”

Amid the standoff over quotas, momentum is gathering for countries to pay more money — for example to countries like Greece and Italy, or fund development aid — instead of hosting refugees.

“We’re recommending that instead of mandatory quotas that we go the way of solidarity. This means that each country will provide a contribution where it is possible and where it makes sense,” said Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency until the end of the year.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said such a shift might work.

“It’s possible, no refugees but more money,” he told reporters, adding that it must be substantial funds, “not nothing, not peanuts.”

“It’s better an agreement with a compromise than no agreement,” he added.

However, migration experts and nonprofits doubt whether any scheme would work without actually sharing out refugees.

As the EU looks abroad for a solution, Egypt has appeared a prime candidate for a new partnership. Kurz and European Council President Donald Tusk have held talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a top army general who took office in 2014. Both men praised him for stopping people from leaving its coast on their way to Europe.

The aim would be to get the Egyptian coast guard to patrol the waters off Libya — the main point for migrants leaving for Italy — and take any rescued people back to Africa.

In response to criticism that it’s neglecting migrants and their rights, the bloc has said that it works closely with the U.N.’s refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration.

But both agencies underline that, even though numbers have dropped, more people are dying at sea than ever — more than 1,700 people so far this year — and that the migrant debate has become “dangerously toxic” in some parts of Europe.

“The current tenor of the political debate – painting a picture of Europe under siege – is not only unhelpful but completely out of touch with reality,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a joint statement. “We cannot forget that we are talking about human lives. Debate is welcome – scapegoating refugees and migrants for political gain is not.”

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David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2018/10/18/eu-leaders-plan-beef-up-borders-stop-flow-migrants/

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The dispute has raised questions over Merkel’s future, as nationalist forces already in power elsewhere in Europe turn up the heat on the long-serving German chancellor for her welcoming stance toward migrants.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday said she expected German military expenditure to rise steadily in coming years, in line with Berlin’s pledge to meet a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation target of moving toward spending 2 percent of economic output by 2024.

Merkel argues that Germany must not take the sudden and unilateral step of rejecting asylum seekers at the border, which would add to the burden faced by frontline countries like Italy and Greece.

But Seehofer reportedly told her the European Union had failed to forge a common policy since the refugee crisis erupted in 2015 and it was hardly credible to think it would do so by the end of the month.A Bundestag session was interrupted for two hours on Thursday morning so Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the CSU, to which Seehofer belongs, could hold separate emergency meetings.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing strong pressure to tighten her country’s refugee policies to avoid the collapse of her coalition government as the heated row over the handling of migration intensifies.

That would represent a reversal of Merkel’s open-doors migrant policy adopted in 2015, which fuelled a rise in support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) and caused rifts within her conservative bloc.

The scuffle forced plenary to suspend Bundestag on Thursday for most of day and both conservative parties – Merkel’s CDU and CSU – met exceptionally separately with emissaries running from one room to anor in building.

Merkel objects to part of Seehofer’s plan which allows German authorities to reject migrants who reach German borders, drawn by the country’s prosperity and stability if they have already registered in other European Union states to the south.

However, hardline Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder showed little sign of backing down, insisting Germany must start rejecting migrants at its borders and it was pointless waiting for a European solution.
The CDU and the Social Democrats (SPD) alone lack a majority in parliament. His plan would allow police to turn away migrants who have already sought asylum in another European Union nation.

“The task of governing our country isn’t an episode of Game of Thrones, but a serious matter”, Olaf Scholz said on Twitter.

For the chancellor, the only sustainable solution would be a Europe-wide agreement – a point she will likely push when she meets later Tuesday with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose country would be hardest hit if Germany were to close its doors.

Merkel has the backing for now of the third party in her coalition, the Social Democratic Party.

Source: http://10thousandcouples.com/2018/06/hardline-eu-ministers-form-axis-of-the-willing-against/

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MAINZ, Germany — Not even 100 days after she negotiated her way to a fourth term as German leader, Angela Merkel is mired in a political crisis that underscores Europe’s divisions over immigration amid a surge in populism.

The German chancellor faces a showdown with her own interior minister that threatens not only her fragile ruling alliance but also her European Union-wide vision of cooperation to deal with the migrant crisis.

The world’s most powerful woman will embark on a weekend of talks ahead of a Monday meeting that could decide her future — and potentially signal the end of the Merkel era. She has been in power since 2005.

Along with French President Emmanuel Macron, Merkel is seen as one of the last bastions of European liberal democracy amid the rise of populism across the continent.

Merkel may be forced to make a U-turn on her open-door policy which has already been scaled back since Germany opened its borders to welcome around 1 million asylum-seekers in 2015. At times more than 10,000 people were arriving daily in the country, which had a population of around 81 million.

Migrants walk from the main station in Dortmund, Germany, in September 2015.Martin Meissner / AP file

Her refugee policy is widely blamed for a surge in support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which became the main opposition party after last September’s inconclusive election.

Gemany’s political turmoil comes amid a rise in populism and anti-immigration sentiment across Europe, including in neighbors such as Poland, Austria and Hungary.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, a conservative critic of Merkel’s migration policy, this week pushed for an “axis of the willing” among Austria, Germany and Italy to fight illegal migration.

It is a view shared by German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who wants to reject migrants at his country’s border if they have already registered in other E.U. states to the south.

In March, Seehofer told a newspaper that “Islam does not belong to Germany.” Seehofer is a member of Merkel’s CSU Bavarian allies, who are further to the right than her own Christian Democrats (CDU). He has also vowed to implement a “master plan for quicker deportations.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition is at risk after clashes with Interior Minister Horst Seehofer over Germany’s refugee policy.Carsten Koall / Getty Images

Keen not to antagonize Germany’s neighbors, Merkel prefers an E.U.-wide solution and wants to wait until the outcome of a summit of the bloc’s leaders on June 28. She has warned that Seehofer’s plan could shift the migrant burden onto countries such as Greece and Italy, where she is already unpopular for her economic policies.

“I personally think illegal migration is one of the big challenges for the European Union, so I don’t believe we should act unilaterally,” she said Thursday. “We should not act in an uncoordinated way, and we should not act at the expense of third parties.”

However, lawmakers from the CSU have backed Seehofer, who said he might defy Merkel by going ahead with his plan next week without her agreement.

If defied, Markel could be forced to fire Seehofer, or lead her CDU to split up the parliamentary bloc in which they have cooperated with the CSU since 1949. That would leave her coalition without a majority and could result in another election.

“Merkel is caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Thomas Walde, co-host of the political affairs show “Berlin Direkt” at NBC’s German partner channel ZDF. “She could either revoke her own policy, which would in effect mean that she is correcting herself and that everything she did so far was wrong. She cannot possibly do that because then she would be a lame duck in her position.”

He added: “Or, she could fire the minister of the interior on Monday, if he were to act. But then her coalition partner would leave the coalition, which would leave her without a majority in Parliament, which would be tough. She could try to go for a little while, but in effect that might lead to new elections.”

“She is fighting various fires in Europe.”

It is unclear whether Merkel would run again should German voters be sent back to the ballot box.

The CSU’s hardline stance on immigration comes ahead of regional elections in Germany. In the Bavarian heartland, along Germany’s southern border, the migrant crisis is a crucial issue and the party fears anti-immigration sentiment could bring to an end its decades-old dominance of Bavaria’s government.

However, others have criticized the CSU for putting its interests ahead of national unity.

Malu Dreyer, the premier of the Rhineland-Pfalz region, called the CSU’s tactics “scandalous.”

“The CSU is risking a lot, namely the stability of this government,” she said Thursday.

Andrea Nahles, the leader of Germany’s center-left Social Democrats, accused Bavaria’s CSU governor, Markus Soeder, of “behaving like a bonsai Trump.”

“We won’t allow the panic of the [Bavarian] state government to take all of Germany and Europe hostage,” said Nahles.

Gero Neugebauer, professor of politics at the Free University Berlin, said Seehofer’s CSU wanted to change the law that automatically guarantees asylum to anyone facing persecution overseas, replacing it with the power to accept or reject asylum applications.

However, the dispute is also a power struggle over who dominates German politics.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a news conference in Berlin on Friday.Markus Schreiber / AP

“That is why the dispute is in substance about [migration policy], but it is also a conflict between people,” Neugebauer said, adding Seehofer is hoping to emerge as the winner in a confrontation with Merkel.

It cannot be excluded that a collapse of the coalition government “could be imminent,” Neugebauer warned, but added that that would pose risks “which are higher for the CSU than for Merkel’s CDU party.”

Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said Merkel has become more isolated on the European stage but her patience and experience could ensure her political survival.

“She is fighting various fires in Europe. She has the Dutch and the northern and Scandinavian countries on her side, but she is certainly not strong enough to be called the undisputed leader of Europe as she might have been,” Besch added. “She’s great at surviving these things, in part because of her calm approach, which is in stark contrast to the posturing in the CSU and the ‘Merkel must go’ faction of the CDU.”

Merkel and Macron are among the few remaining European leaders to explicitly shun populism and the protectionist trade policies of President Donald Trump, and share a vision of a stronger, more unified E.U.-wide foreign policy.

Macron warned in March that the European Union faces a “civil war” and “fascination with the illiberal” as nationalist governments in Poland and Hungary turn away from liberal democracy and appealed to Europeans not to “sleepwalk” into authoritarianism.

Andy Eckardt reported from Mainz, Germany, and Alastair Jamieson from London.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/europes-border-crisis/germany-s-merkel-faces-political-crisis-over-migrant-policy-n883441

The post Germany’s Merkel faces political crisis over migrant policy first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced on Friday that the government is planning to shutter seven mosques and expel dozens of imams from the country.

At a press conference, Kurz declared, “Parallel societies, political Islam and radicalization have no place in our country.” Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache echoed: “This is just the beginning.”

What brought this on?

Following years of build-up during Europe’s ongoing migration crisis, Austrian voters have elected conservative leaders who have vowed to “crack down” on government benefits for immigrants and “political Islam.”

In 2015, the Austrian government passed a so-called “law on Islam,” which prohibited the funding of religious groups by outside entities, and required Muslims to have “a positive fundamental view towards (Austria’s) state and society.”

The imams being considered for deportation — as many as 60 — are being funded by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Cultural and Social Cooperation in Austria (ATIB), a group aligned with the Turkish government.

A spokesman for ATIB, Yasar Ersoy, confirmed that the imams were indeed paid by Turkey‘s state religious authority, but said, “We are currently working on having imams be paid from funds within the country.”

How’s it going over?

Predictably, Turkey’s presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin took to Twitter to denounce the move, saying: “Austria’s decision to close down seven mosques and deport imams with a lame excuse is a reflection of the anti-Islam, racist and discriminatory populist wave in this country.”

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week of Kurz, “This immoral chancellor has a problem with us.”

Conversely, leader of the French Front National, Marine Le Pen, said, “Austria is taking things in hand and showing that ‘when you want to, you can!” The head of Italy’s League and interior minister, Matteo Savlini, also weighed in with support of the actions, saying, “Those who exploit their faith to endanger a country’s security should be expelled!”

Source: https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/06/08/just-the-beginning-austria-announces-plans-to-close-several-mosques-deport-dozens-of-imams

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted Moscow is not trying to split the European Union.

He was speaking hours before arriving in Austria, on his first trip to Western Europe in almost a year.

He told Austria’s ORF television he wanted a “united and prosperous” EU, calling it Russia’s most important commercial and economic partner.

In Vienna, he said EU economic sanctions against Russia were hurting both sides.

Speaking after talks with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Mr Putin said Russia had overcome all difficulties caused by the sanctions.

Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula in 2014 triggered the sanctions, which were later ratcheted up as Russia helped separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has hit back with counter-sanctions on food and raw materials.

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More than 10,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in eastern Ukraine.

Another major concern among many European liberals is close links between the pro-Putin United Russia party with far-right parties in the EU.

The two populist parties now ruling Italy favour closer ties with Moscow and are both Eurosceptic.

In the ORF interview Mr Putin played down the links between United Russia and Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, the FPÖ. The parties have a co-operation agreement, but the FPÖ denies claims it has received money from Moscow.

Splits on sanctions

The FPÖ has some key posts in Austria’s coalition government – it is in charge of the interior ministry and defence – and says it wants to get the EU sanctions on Russia lifted. However, the coalition has agreed to back EU policy on sanctions.

Italy’s new government openly called for a review of EU sanctions on Tuesday, starting with those that “threaten civil society in Russia”. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told parliament in Rome that Italy was in favour of opening up towards Russia, which represented a key partner for Italian business.

“The more problems at the heart of the EU, the more risks and problems there are for us,” Mr Putin told ORF.

“We need to build co-operation with the EU. We don’t have a goal of dividing anything or anyone in the EU.”

Russian soldiers in unmarked camouflage took control of Crimea in March 2014

What some call a “new cold war” was also fuelled by Russia’s role in the Syrian civil war and the poisoning of a former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, in southern England. The UK blamed the Kremlin for that attack; Russia furiously denied any role in it.

Pro-Putin activists have been accused of spreading “fake news” on social media to undermine the tough Western stance on Russia and help empower nationalists in the EU.

Austria and many other EU states depend on Russia for much – and in some cases all – of their natural gas.

Mr Putin is now meeting Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, as well as business leaders.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44364429

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