Al Jazeera News :
European Council President Donald Tusk has issued a stark warning that the European Union had “no more than two months” to tackle the refugee crisis engulfing the 28-nation bloc or else face the collapse of its passport-free Schengen zone.
Tusk was speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday amid growing frustration in Brussels and Germany – the bloc’s biggest economy and main destination for migrants arriving in Europe – that the EU seems unable to resolve its worst migration crisis since World War II.
“We have no more than two months to get things under control,” Tusk, who chairs the summits of EU leaders, said.
“The March European Council [summit] will be the last moment to see if our strategy works. If it doesn’t, we will face grave consequences, such as the collapse of Schengen.” The European Council summit on March 17-18 will focus mainly on the refugee and migration crisis.
The Schengen system has already been suspended in some countries like Denmark, Germany and Sweden, which have introduced controls at their borders in order to stem the flow of migrant and refugee arrivals.
Tusk said that EU governments have failed to deliver on commitments to curb the flow of refugees and migrants reaching Europe, with more than one million arrivals last year and figures showing little sign of decreasing over the winter months.
European Council President Donald Tusk has issued a stark warning that the European Union had “no more than two months” to tackle the refugee crisis engulfing the 28-nation bloc or else face the collapse of its passport-free Schengen zone.
Tusk was speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday amid growing frustration in Brussels and Germany – the bloc’s biggest economy and main destination for migrants arriving in Europe – that the EU seems unable to resolve its worst migration crisis since World War II.
“We have no more than two months to get things under control,” Tusk, who chairs the summits of EU leaders, said.
“The March European Council [summit] will be the last moment to see if our strategy works. If it doesn’t, we will face grave consequences, such as the collapse of Schengen.” The European Council summit on March 17-18 will focus mainly on the refugee and migration crisis.
The Schengen system has already been suspended in some countries like Denmark, Germany and Sweden, which have introduced controls at their borders in order to stem the flow of migrant and refugee arrivals.
Tusk said that EU governments have failed to deliver on commitments to curb the flow of refugees and migrants reaching Europe, with more than one million arrivals last year and figures showing little sign of decreasing over the winter months.
