Prague, Aug 22 (CTK) – Many Czechs still oppose German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s accommodating approach to immigrants from 2015, but the migrant crisis has subsided since and Prague’s stances on almost all migrant-related issues are identical with Berlin’s now, Lubos Palata writes in Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) on Monday.
The reasonable part of Czech politicians share Merkel’s views to a larger extent than they seem to. There is no reason for Prague and Berlin to continue disputing on how to solve the echoes of the migrant crisis, Palata writes ahead of Merkel’s visit to Prague scheduled for August 25.
Of course, the migrant crisis continues to be the main problem of Czech-German relations, he writes.
Many Czechs, who succumbed to mass hysteria about a year ago, consider Merkel “a criminal,” a person who opened the door to “an organised Islamic invasion,” allowed Europe to be flooded by IS terrorists and triggered off the Islamisation of the Christian continent, Palata writes.
All this is nonsense. Last year’s immigration by five million refugees raised the number of Muslims on the continent by less than 5 percent, he says.
The connection between the migrant wave and IS terrorist attacks is minimal. The attack in Munich, the bloodiest of all in Germany, had an ultra-right background, not an Islamic one. Further arguments can be presented, but it is difficult for facts to defeat firmly rooted and politically misused myths, the leading of which says that Merkel invited refugees to Europe, Palata writes.
When Merkel and her government said last year that Germany would not apply the Dublin agreements to Syrian refugees and would not return them to the country of their EU entry, there were 100,000 migrants in Hungary alone, and thousands were on their way from Budapest to the Austrian border.
The prospects would have been gloomy if Merkel and Germany had decided not to shoulder responsibility and not to open the border to the Syrian war refugees. In spite of that, almost all Czechs know for sure that Merkel should not have done it, that it was a mistake or even a crime, Palata writes with sarcasm.
One year has elapsed since, but most Czechs evidently have not got any wiser, he writes.
The EU’s agreement with Turkey, to which Merkel essentially contributed, stopped migration on the Balkans route early this year and it is still effective irrespective of a recent obvious change in the Ankara regime, Palata writes.
In the meantime, Britain has opted for Brexit, but not over Syrians but over Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Lithuanians and other immigrants coming from “our part of Europe,” Palata writes.
This should make the respective governments think about the state of their countries from where people leave for Britain. However, it seems easier for them to continue nourishing people’s fear of a controlled Muslim invasion, Palata writes.
As far as migration is concerned, the EU has now returned to the situation in 2013 and 2014 where no one worried about Greece or Italy’s problems with migrants. True, crowds of migrants continue streaming to Italy, but the EU can expect to sign an agreement with Libya, similar to the EU-Turkish one, as soon as the Libyan government gains control of the whole country, Palata writes.
In relation to migration, the EU only has to “tidy up” now. From the point of view of Czech-German relations, this means two basic things. First it is necessary to fulfil the deal with Turkey, according to which the EU countries should accept several thousands of Syrian refugees in exchange for the readmission of illegal migrants by Turkey, Palata writes.
Prague’s refusal to accept any refugees would mean a refusal to fulfil the agreement that obviously prevents last year’s crisis from repeating, Palata writes.
Second, the Czech Republic should admit up to 3,000 of asylum seekers from Greece and Italy to help them cope with the crowd of migrants who got stuck there still before the Turkish deal was signed, Palata writes.
Both requirements are rational and would neither threaten nor burden the Czech Republic. Prague should meet them because it pledged to do so, for the sake of its own credibility and a smooth functioning of the EU as a whole, Palata writes.
At present, Prague actually shares the stance on almost all migrant-related issues with Berlin, including the protection of the borders and the establishment of European coast guards, the return of unsuccessful asylum seekers and the need to terminate the conflict in Syria, Palata writes.
It was Germany that said before the summer holiday that it is not a suitable time now to discuss further plans for migrant relocation. Simply, if the Czech Republic is willing to fulfil what it is obliged to fulfil, there is no reason for it to dispute with Merkel over migration, Palata writes.
The Czechs should do the only thing during Merkel’s visit – ask how they could help Germany with the integration of asylum seekers and holders. What about donating a thousand prefab houses to help accommodate some of the refugees who still inhabit gyms in Germany? Palata asks
