EU summit to offer resettlement to only 5,000 refugees

EU summit to offer resettlement to only 5,000 refugees

Exclusive: Confidential draft from summit reveals that only 5,000 migrants will be allowed to resettle in Europe with large numbers likely to be repatriated
Alan Travis
Thursday 23 April 2015 10.43 EDT
Only 5,000 resettlement places across Europe are to be offered to refugees under the emergency summit crisis package to be agreed by EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday.
A confidential draft summit statement seen by the Guardian indicates that the vast majority of those who survive the journey and make it to Italy – 150,000 did so last year – will be sent back as irregular migrants under a new rapid-return programme co-ordinated by the EU’s border agency, Frontex. More than 36,000 boat survivors have reached Italy, Malta and Greece so far this year.
The draft summit conclusions also reveal that hopes of a major expansion of search-and-rescue operations across the Mediterranean in response to the humanitarian crisis are likely to be dashed, despite widespread and growing pressure.
The summit statement merely confirms the decision by EU foreign and interior ministers on Monday to double funding in 2015 and 2016 and “reinforce the assets” of the existing Operation Triton and Operation Poseidon border-surveillance operations, which only patrol within 30 miles of the Italian coast.

Migrant Deaths: EU leaders to triple funding of rescue operations

Britain, Germany,and France offer ships and aircraft for Mediterranean mission at emergency summit in Brussels 

European leaders have pledged to triple funding of EU maritime operations in the Mediterranean in an attempt to get to grips with the epidemic of migrant drownings at sea, while 15 of 28 EU countries also promised more naval assets for the mission.

At an emergency summit in Brussels staged under intense pressure to respond more humanely to the soaring death toll, Britain was the first to pledge ships and helicopters.

The Royal Navy flagship HMS Bulwark was ordered to Malta to join search-and-rescue operations after the deaths of up to 800 people last weekend in the worst single tragedy in two years in the Mediterranean.

David Cameron also said two smaller cutters or patrol vessels would be sent as well as three Merlin helicopters fitted with advanced radar systems capable of spotting small craft at sea from a range of 100 miles.

Germany offered one frigate and 10 ships while France was said to have committed a plane for a fortnight in September and a patrol boat for the month of November.

Despite previous British government opposition to saving lives at sea, Cameron’s U-turn on search and rescue came with conditions attached. He said any migrants picked up at sea would not necessarily qualify for claiming asylum in Britain, but would be taken to the nearest EU country, probably Italy. Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, was said not to have objected when he met Cameron just before the summit.

The Bulwark, currently taking part in first world war commemorations at Gallipoli in Turkey, is expected to be operational on search-and-rescue duties in the Mediterranean in around a week and will be based at Malta, UK government sources said.

“Our immediate priority is to prevent more people from dying at sea,” said a summit statement.While leaders stressed that the paramount aim was to save lives, Thursday’s summit focused mainly on security in what looked like a vain attempt to stem the flow of refugees from north Africa.

Refugee charities and immigration professionals, highly critical of the EU effort before the summit, were guardedly hopeful.

Poland to build watchtowers at Russia's Kaliningrad border

Poland will build six watchtowers to survey its 200-kilometre-long border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, border police have said.

The six towers will be up to 50 metres (164 feet) high and ready in June for round-the-clock surveillance, the spokeswoman for Poland’s border police told the PAP news agency.

They will cost more than 14 million złoty (3.7 million euros, $3.8 million), Mirosława Aleksandrowicz said, adding that 75% of the amount would come from an EU fund for external borders.

Kaliningrad is near the Baltic Sea, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, both EU members. Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė said last month thatRussia had sent nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad, which could “reach even Berlin”.

Russia’s seizure and annexation of Crimea, support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and stepped-up military drills have caused unease in the Baltic states and Poland, which lay behind the Iron Curtain a quarter of a century ago.

More than three million Russians and an equal number of Poles passed through border posts to heavily militarised Kaliningrad last year.

Alexis Tsipras flies to Moscow amid speculation of bailout from Putin

Greek prime minister to sign accords with Russia, including gas price discount and possible loans in return for Greek assets, which would alarm EU creditors

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has condemned EU sanctions on Russia as a ‘road to nowhere’. Photograph: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images

The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has begun a controversial visit to Moscow as his debt-stricken country races to meet Thursday’s deadline for the repayment of a €450m loan to the International Monetary Fund.
With Greece suffering its worst credit crisis in modern times, the defiant leader flew into Russia on Tuesday amid speculation that president Vladimir Putin might make an offer of financial help he would find hard to resist.

As Tsipras departed Athens, officials said the Kremlin talks should be seen through the prism of Athens’ leftist-led government doing “what is best for Greece”.
They described the visit as being both “politically friendly and economically promising”.
The two leaders, who hold formal talks and a working lunch on Wednesday, are expected to sign an array of accords, including a three-year plan to strengthen economic and commercial ties.

The Kremlin meeting is also expected to focus on EU sanctions against Russia, which Tsipras has condemned as a “road to nowhere”. On Tuesday, Russia’s Kommersant business daily reported that a discount on gas deliveries was likely to be top of the agenda. Cash-strapped Greece imports 57% of its gas supplies from Russia.