EUROPEAN CRISIS: Key Developments of the Past 48

Hours

March 7, 20161

POLITICS

EUROPEAN UNION
EU Leaders Set to Announce That “Balkan Route Is
Now Closed”: The Balkan route to Europe is going to be
closed, EU leaders will declare today at their summit with
Turkey in Brussels, officials said over the weekend.
“Irregular flows of migrants along the Western Balkans
route are coming to an end; this route is now closed,” a
joint statement will declare. Leaders also will endorse a
migration roadmap, put forward by the Commission on
Friday, that sets out how to revive the Schengen area by
December, dismantling the internal border controls
reintroduced by eight member states.

 The final statement stresses the need to be aware of

other routes that migrants might take if the road
running through Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and
Slovenia is shut down. There are fears, especially in
Rome, that migrants will try to travel north through
Albania and across the Aegean Sea to Italy.
 The draft statement also calls for action to “accelerate
relocation to alleviate the heavy burden that presently
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Contributions from IMI, OSIFE, and MENA/SWA.

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 weighs on Greece”; the relocation program was
intended to take 66,400 refugees from Greece to other
EU states, but it has largely been moribund. (G.
Maniatis)

On Eve of Summit Eve, Calls to Double Turkish Aid:

The EU may need to more than double the €3 billion
pledged to Turkey to help it keep millions of Syrian
refugees on its soil, Germany's EU Commissioner Guenther
Oettinger said this weekend. "Taking over full costs of the
services that Turkey is providing by accommodating and
caring for the refugees, the bill could easily add up to €6-7
billion euros per year," he underscored. The EU meanwhile
kicked off the distribution of the aid for refugees in Turkey,
formally pledging €55 million for educational assistance
and €40 million in food aid.

 Austrian Chancellor Faymann proposed a new EU

fund to finance the additional costs. "In the migrant
crisis, we need joint European solutions,” he said.
"Therefore I suggest a fund in which each EU member
state pays in, similar to the bank bailout. The money
should be used to cover the costs of providing for the
asylum seekers.”
 Turkish President Erdogan mocked EU pledges in a
speech on Sunday: "What is the West telling us? Here,
we will give you €3 billion in a year. Look, it has been
four months since it gave us this promise. They will
still give, still give."
 Faymann said Monday's summit was set to decide
three things: improving cooperation with Turkey to

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 fight human smugglers and return rejected asylum
seekers, ending a policy of waving through refugees,
and agreeing on a system for EU members to absorb
asylum seekers with the help of UNHCR.
 The Turkish government expects the Summit to
produce progress on visa liberalization and Turkish
accession to the EU, but German Finance Minister
Wolfgang Schäuble said today that Germany had
major doubts about whether Turkey should become a
full EU member. “It will be a long time before we
reach the end of negotiations with Turkey,” he said.
“This is a question for the coming years, it is not a
worry at the present time.”
 An agreement at the summit still faces political
hurdles, in particular unease within the EU over a
domestic crackdown in Turkey. Hours after Tusk left
Ankara last week, Turkish authorities on Friday seized
Zaman, the country’s largest opposition newspaper.
The action revived concerns that Ankara’s quid pro
quo for controlling refugee flows is for the EU to turn
a blind eye to human rights violations. (G. Maniatis)

Turkey to Accept Returns from NATO-led Mission, as

Alliance Expands Mission Into Greek, Turkish Waters:
NATO is expanding its mission into Greek and Turkish
territorial waters, said SG Stoltenberg, and is sending more
ships to the Eastern Mediterranean to add to the three
already there. He also said the Alliance reached a deal with
Frontex, the EU border agency, on how to coordinate
efforts. Meanwhile, Turkish PM Davutoğlu confirmed
Turkey’s readiness to take back Syrians rescued in

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international waters by a NATO-led operation. (G.
Maniatis)

Erdogan Calls on Europe to Build Refugee City in

Northern Syria: Erdogan said Europe should help build a
refugee city in northern Syrian in coordination with his
country to stem the influx of refugees to Europe and lift the
burden of some 2.7 million refugees on his country.
Refugees from Syria could be "resettled" in a city that
would comparable to some of the largest urban centres in
the US, he said, adding that EU has been unsuccessful in
aiding Turkey to stem the influx of refugees into Europe.
(G. Maniatis)

Greece Insists on Immediate Relocations, Questions

Accession of E. European Countries: “It must be
perfectly clear that the immediate start of a reliable process
of relocation of refugees from our country to other EU
countries is a matter of complete urgency," PM Tsipras
said Sunday, also calling for sanctions against EU members
that do not abide by common decisions. "And this is
exactly what we will seek in the summit on Monday. Not
just the wording that this is urgent, but that it will begin
immediately and with a large number. He added that the
EU is feeling the consequences of "unreasonable ...
imperialistic interventions" in the Middle East that have
destroyed organized states, an apparent reference to Iraq
and Syria. Hitting back at criticism by eastern European
states over Greece's failure to stem migrant flows, Tsipras
questioned the wisdom of admitting these countries into the
EU a decade ago. (G. Maniatis)

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Macedonia Clamps Down Further, as Humanitarian
Pressures Build in Greece—100,000 Could Come This
Month: The bottleneck of refugees on Greece’s northern
border escalated on Sunday, Commissioner s
Avramopoulos predicted approximately 100,000 migrants
and refugees would reach the country this month alone;
about 3,000 people are landing on Greek shores from
Turkey every day, officials say.

 Throughout Sunday morning, dozens of local Greeks

arrived in cars packed with clothes and food donations
to distribute to the refugees. Many were mobbed as
they arrived at the first tents, with men, women and
children scrambling to receive whatever handouts they
could.
 Macedonian authorities imposed further restrictions
Sunday on refugees trying to cross the border,
allowing only those from cities they consider to be at
war to enter, such as Aleppo; those from Damascus
and Baghdad are being stopped. The rate at which
refugees are being allowed to cross had already been
reduced to a trickle, with sometimes only a few dozen,
or even nobody, being allowed to cross.
 Merkel says that Greece should work on humane
accommodation for refugees "in lightning-speed,”
noting that Greece should have created
accommodation for up to 50,000 refugees at the end of
last year and needs to quickly make up for lost time.
Meanwhile, Czech President Zeman said on Sunday

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 that Greece could pay down its foreign debts by
hosting deportation centers. (G. Maniatis)

Austria Accuses EU of “Acting Like a Human

Trafficker,” Will Not Abide Quotas, Calls for German
Cap: The EU is “acting like a human trafficker,” said
Austrian FM Kurz. “In Greece refugees are being waved
through to the heart of Europe. That is simply unacceptable
in the long run." Restoring the Dublin and Schengen
agreements, he said, had to be a priority at the meeting
between the EU leaders and Turkey. “If people have the
choice of where they settle in Europe, then we cannot be
surprised that they choose to come over here in search of a
better life. The distinction between protection and the right
to a better life has got blurred, and I think it is of utmost
importance that we re-establish some clarity in this regard.”

 Kurz said he was not disappointed in countries such as

Britain that had been less willing to accept asylum
applications. “What people often don’t mention when
they complain about Great Britain is how much money
in humanitarian aid the UK has spent, while other
countries like Sweden have reduced their aid money in
order to build more refugee shelters, which is far more
expensive than providing aid in the countries of origin.
“Is it really more ethical if fewer people are helped in
the long run?”
 Meanwhile, Faymann urged Germany to set a clear
limit on the number of asylum seekers it will accept.
"Germany too must give a number for the refugees it
is prepared to take from the Syria and Turkey region.

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 Germany must finally create clarity or else refugees
will continue to head off in the direction of Germany,”
he said. "If you take the Austrian guidelines, Germany
could give its quota at around 400,000. As long as
Germany does not say that, it is clear what will
happen. The refugees will continue to believe that they
will be waved through." (G. Maniatis)
 Asylum seekers taken in by Austria in 2015 were a
majority Afghans, according to the Austrian paper Die
Presse. Austria had 25,475 asylum claims from
Afghans closely followed by 24,538 applications from
Syrians. In total, there Austria received 88,912 asylum
claims in 2015. The historically highest number of
claims came in 1956, with 170,000 applications during
the Hungarian Crisis. (S. Han)

Eurostat Tallies 1.2 Million Asylum Applications in EU

in 2015, Double the Previous Year: More than 1.2 million
people applied for asylum for the first time in the EU last
year, more than double the number in 2014, according to
Eurostat. Most were Syrian, Iraqi or Afghan nationals,
including 362,800 Syrians. More than a third—441,800
people—applied for the first time in Germany. In per-capita
terms, the most people applied in Hungary, Sweden,
Austria, and Finland; only 140 people sought asylum in
Croatia. Eurostat’s figures concern only first-time
applicants in 2015; almost half a million asylum
applications were still being processed at the end of 2014.
(G. Maniatis)

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UNHCR Calls for 400,000 Syrians in Turkey to Be
Resettled Worldwide: UNHCR says that 400,000 Syrian
refugees in Turkey should be resettled around the world
over the next two years to help ease the burden on the
country; only 7,500 refugees were resettled from Turkey
last year, including 1,100 Syrians. (G. Maniatis)

SLOVAKIA

Far-Eight Surges in Slovak Elections as Fico Struggles:

Slovak PM Robert Fico won a parliamentary vote with a
weaker-than-expected outcome, as an anti-refugee message
helped two nationalist groups gain seats with six other
parties in a result that could trigger repeat elections. Fico’s
Smer party lost the outright majority with which it’s ruled
since 2012, dropping from 44% to 28.3%. The outcome
could affect the EU Presidency, which Slovakia assumes in
July.

 The biggest surprise was the success of the extreme-

right People’s Party-Our Slovakia, led by a regional
governor, Marian Kotleba, who in the past has had ties
to neo-Nazism. It picked up 8% of the vote—nearly
three times more than predicted—and could prove to
be an obstacle in Fico’s efforts to form a coalition. IT
was the biggest party among first-time voters,
attracting a staggering 22.7% among 18-to-21 year
olds. (G. Maniatis)

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TURKEY

Turkey Accused of Attacking Refugees, Turning Them

Back at Borders: Turkish border guards are routinely
attacking Syrians attempting to cross illegally into Turkey,
refugees and campaigners have claimed, according to The
Independent. Families who fled the recent fighting in
Aleppo said officers had opened fire as they tried to reach
Turkey with the help of smugglers. Others spoke of heavy
beatings for those caught after attempting to slip across.
Ankara does not deny that border guards sometimes open
fire on those crossing illegally. “In certain cases, the border
patrol has no option but to fire warning shots because they
often come under attack from smugglers and terrorist
groups on the Syrian side,” a senior government official
said, while insisting that the border force had an
“outstanding track record.” Amnesty International reported
last month that hospitals in Azaz, a town near the Turkish
border, were receiving two civilians a day who had been
shot while attempting such crossings. It said that, in one
case, a child aged 10 died after being shot in the head. (G.
Maniatis)

MEDIA

BBC: Marian Kotleba and the rise of Slovakia's extreme

right

 There's shock in Slovakia at the real sensation of this

election: the strong showing by Marian Kotleba and
his ultra-nationalist People's Party-Our Slovakia.

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  Marian Kotleba is different—he was, once, literally a
neo-Nazi. Until recently, he dressed in a uniform
modelled on the Hlinka Guard, the militia of the 1939-
45 Nazi-sponsored Slovak State. He and his followers
adopted the mannerisms, greetings, symbols and
rhetoric of that state, Slovakia's first ill-fated flirtation
with sovereignty.
 And make no mistake, the Slovak State was an
authoritarian, clerical-fascist regime modelled on Nazi
Germany. The Hlinka Guard enthusiastically hounded
the regime's enemies, most of all Jews.
 This is the regime venerated by Marian Kotleba and
his 13 newly-elected fellow deputies in his People's
Party-Our Slovakia party. It's a regime he once
described as "like living in heaven.”

Deutsche Welle: Pope: 'We can speak of an Arab invasion'

of Europe

 "If Europe wants to rejuvenate itself, it must

rediscover its cultural roots … But forgetting its own
history, Europe weakens itself. And that's when it
risks becoming an empty place," the pope told Jean-
Pierre Denis, editor-in-chief of the French magazine
"La Vie.”
 "Today, we can speak of an Arab invasion. It is a
social fact," the pope said in response to a question on
why he believes Europe risks becoming an "empty
place." He immediately added that anyone looking for
a "'great change' - those dearest to the far-right - will
remain disappointed."

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  "How many invasions has Europe experienced in the
course of its history? It has always been able to
overcome them; moving forward and finding itself
better through the exchange between cultures," the
pope said, in an apparent reference to Europe's
Renaissance, which was partially fostered through the
preservation of Greek philosophical works by Muslim
scholars in Spain and elsewhere in the Arab world.
 "If you want to avoid everyone turning towards
extremes, you must nurture friendship and the pursuit
of the common good, beyond political affiliations."

AP: Jordan test ground for jobs programme for Syria

refugees

 A new trade deal with Europe, a rush of foreign

investment and public works are to put 200,000 Syrian
refugees to work in Jordan in what the international
community has described as a radical new approach to
tackling the biggest displacement crisis in decades.
Shifting from handouts to helping refugees sustain
themselves is now seen as most effective way to deal
with the fallout from a prolonged conflict that has
defied a negotiated solution.
 Creating all 200,000 jobs could take years says the
World Bank. Such a slow pace could keep many
Syrians in limbo and possibly undercut one of the
main aims of the global intervention—to quickly
reduce refugee migration from struggling regional host
nations to Europe.

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  Under the new pact, Jordan promises to allow up to
200,000 Syrian refugees to work legally, an idea it
rejected in past due to high domestic unemployment.
In exchange, Jordanian products would win easier
access to European markets, meant to create new
investment and jobs. Jordan would also receive
hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and cheap
loans for development projects.
 If successful, scheme would probably mean replacing
some of Jordan’s hundreds of thousands of foreign
workers, mostly from Egypt or Asia, with Syrians.
The Guardian: Russia ‘stoking refugee unrest in Germany
to topple Angela Merkel’

 Russia is trying to topple Angela Merkel by waging an

information war designed to stir up anger in Germany
over refugees, NATO’s most senior expert on strategic
communications has claimed.
 “[Russia] is establishing a network that can be
controlled. You can use it as they have tried to do in
Germany, combined with the legitimate issue of
refugees, to undercut political processes in a very
serious way.”
 “I think they test whether they can – in such a big
country, with not so many vulnerabilities in normal
times – actually create a circumstance through their
influence where there is a change of top leadership.
They are using Russian speakers, social media, trying
to build on the existing fault lines. Use the far right
narrative and exploit that.”

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  the impact of Russia’s attempt to stir up unrest in
Germany was being diminished because the problem
had been discovered, but he warned that other
countries were turning a blind eye to Putin’s
propaganda war.

FROM THE GROUND

In brief
 Greece:
o Situation in Eidomeni deteriorates further
o Government: 33,320 refugees stranded in Greece
o 15 new refugee camps being built for 17,400
people
o 25 refugees died in shipwreck
o Pigs’ heads thrown at planned refugee camp
o 10,000 respond to call for solidarity with refugees
in Athens
o Anarchists attack French institute protesting
Calais evacuation
 Croatia: People from ‘safe’ areas of Iraq refused
onward travel
 Hungary: New asylum law restricts refugee rights
 Macedonia:
o Additional border restrictions introduced
o Footage of border guard kicking refugee emerges
 Serbia: Refugees found in train wagons

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  United Kingdom: Deportations to Afghanistan set to
resume
STATISTICS

 132,177 arrivals by sea in Greece in 2016

 49% of arrivals in Greece are Syrians, 26% Afghans
and 17% Iraqis in 2016
 987 refugees arrived in Lesvos on 6 March as weather
conditions improve
 33,320 refugees stranded in Greece on 7 March

GREECE

Situation in Eidomeni deteriorates further – The transit

camp of Eidomeni at the Greek-Macedonian border is
overwhelmed as 13,000 refugees are still in the area hoping
that they will be allowed onward safe passage. Many are
left without water and food as NGOs and local volunteer
groups struggle to provide with relief items. The hygienic
conditions in the area are extremely poor and further
worsened by the refugees’ efforts to warm themselves up
by burning plastic and other garbage. Two children were
severely injured in accidents at the site on 7 March – one
fell off a train wagon that was parked in the area, while
another was electrocuted by overhead railway wires. A
group of refugees started a hunger strike after these
incidents. Many are at the site without any form of shelter,
while the weather forecast for the next few days predicts
lower temperatures and rainfall. Volunteer groups are
making efforts to offer the extremely large number of

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children present at the camp some comfort, including a
screening of film Wall-E. (M. Moschopoulos)

Government: 33,320 refugees stranded in Greece –

According to government statistics, 27,109 refugees were
stranded in mainland Greece and a further 6,211 refugees
were on Greek islands on 7 March. The country’s total
reception capacity is 16,530. The government estimated the
number of people in Eidomeni at 8,000, 5,000 less than the
MSF estimate. The camps in Greece with the highest
number of stranded refugees are near the Macedonian
border, at Chersos with 3,400 people and Nea Kavala
which hosts 2,797. A further 2,200 were stranded at the
port of Piraeus, and 2,136 were at the camp of Diavata near
Thessaloniki. 3,550 of those on the islands are located on
Lesvos, 1,422 on Chios and 489 on Samos. (M.
Moschopoulos)

15 new refugee camps being built – The government

announced that it is constructing 15 new refugee reception
centers that will host 17,400 people. Four will be located in
Athens, four in Epirus, four in Thessaly, one in Central
Greece, two in the Greek region of Central Macedonia and
one in Thermopylae. The larger camps will host 4,000
(Malakasa, Athens and Litohoro, Central Macedonia) and
3,000 (Afidnes, Athens) refugees. (M. Moschopoulos)

25 refugees died in shipwreck – 25 people drowned while

trying to reach the Greek island of Farmakonisi from the
Turkish town of Didim on 6 March. The Turkish coast

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guard saved 15 more and 2 were missing. (M.
Moschopoulos)

Pigs’ heads thrown at planned refugee camp – Another

attack on a refugee facility took place on the evening of 4
March when unknown assailants threw the heads of pigs at
a military camp in Skydra that were going to be used as a
temporary shelter for refugees. The tactic, which has been
previously used in far-right attacks in Britain and Germany,
is used to discourage Muslim refugees from settling there
due to the blood of pigs contaminating the ground. (M.
Moschopoulos)

Solidarity with refugees in Athens – 10,000 people

responded to a call by the Network for Social Solidarity
and donated goods at an event that took place on 6 March.
The Network was collecting food, clothes, medicine, relief
items for babies and personal hygiene items. The items will
be distributed at the Athens camps and the border area
Eidomeni. Meanwhile, a few hundred people joined a
Greek Forum of Refugees rally against recent EU decisions
and in defense of safe passage for Afghan refugees in
Athens on 6 March. (M. Moschopoulos)

Anarchists attack French Institute – A local anarchist

group named after 18th century journalist Gracchus Babeuf
threw Molotov cocktails at the French Institute in Athens
on 2 March. They published a statement on 5 March they
linked the attack to the French authorities’ efforts to
demolish the makeshift refugee camp known as ‘the
Jungle’ in Calais. (M. Moschopoulos)

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CROATIA

People from ‘safe’ areas of Iraq refused onward travel –

Croatian police have confirmed that entry into Croatia will
be prohibited to Iraqis coming from Iraqi Kurdistan
(Dohuk, Erbil, Sulaymanuya, Kirkuk provinces), Diyala
(cities Baqubah and Miqdadiyah), and southern parts of
Iraq (Najaf, Babylon, Wasit, Al-Qadisiyah, Maysan, Dhi-
Qar, Muthanna and Basra provinces). Croatian border
guards operating in the northern Serbian town of Sid have
been rejecting refugees that have stamps in their passports
showing they spent more than 30 days in ‘safe’ countries,
such as Turkey. (M. Moschopoulos)

HUNGARY

New asylum law restricts refugee rights – Draft

legislation published by the government on 7 March
eliminates some subsidies received by refugees, such as
those supporting education, reduces other financial
assistance, and restricts the space available to refugees in
holding centers to that of regular prison facilities. Marta
Pardavi, the co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee,
was quoted as saying "the regulation shows the Hungarian
government's intention: no integration help from the state
in Hungary.” (M. Moschopoulos)

MACEDONIA

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Additional border restrictions introduced – Refugees
from Damascus, Syria and Baghdad, Iraq have been refused
entry on 6 March at the Greek-Macedonian border by
Macedonian and EU member state police forces. The
UNHCR has protested the action saying that all Syrians
arriving in Macedonia have a right to international
protection. (M. Moschopoulos)

Footage of border guard kicking refugee emerges –

German newspaper Bild published a video on their website
on 5 March showing a border guard kicking a refugee
without any provocation. The border guard assaulted a
single male refugee as he was entering a tent. The uniform
suggests that the officer was part of the Macedonian police.
(M. Moschopoulos)

SERBIA

Refugees found in train wagons – Serbian police found

51 refugees in two cargo wagons at the Presevo train
station near the Macedonian border on 6 March. The
refugees, including 8 women and 3 children, had spent
hours in the wagons while being smuggled from
Thessaloniki, Greece to Austria. Most on board were
Iranians, while others were from Afghanistan. (M.
Moschopoulos)

UNITED KINGDOM

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Deportations to Afghanistan set to resume – Hundreds of
Afghan people who were denied asylum in the UK are set
to be deported to Afghanistan after Home Secretary
Theresa May won a court case that overturned an earlier
blanket ban on returns to the war-torn country. Civil society
groups have protested the decision, while the Afghan
government has reportedly issued a plea to the British
government to not carry out these deportations considering
the security situation unsafe for those to be returned. (M.
Moschopoulos)

END

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