The proposal of the 'black-red' government of Angela Merkel to amend the current procedure for considering applications by foreigners for asylum in Germany was approved by a majority of members of the Bundesrat, the representation of the federal states. From now on, the list of so-called 'safe countries' whose citizens are not threatened with persecution for political motives includes Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
According to the government, German foreign affairs offices will now be able to process asylum applications submitted by citizens of these Balkan countries in an 'accelerated manner.' However, behind this vague wording lies a bare fact: people from these three countries are effectively deprived of the opportunity to be recognized as refugees in Germany.
Actually, it was assumed that the issue of adopting new immigration rules would drag on for a long time. For some reason, it was thought that the 'Green' Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, would follow the 'party line,' which criticizes the tightening of immigration rules, and would vote against the government's initiative. The composition of the mediation committee, where the bill was to go after it was not approved in the Bundestag, was even discussed.
However, Kretschmann showed healthy pragmatism, which is quite rare to see among Green leaders, and spoke in support of the bill. Most likely, Kretschmann's position was influenced by real facts from his home federal state. After all, the politician knows firsthand about the catastrophic situation in a number of local municipalities, which have been suffocating in recent months from the influx of refugees, including from the Balkan countries.
Understandably, the entire leadership of the Greens immediately attacked the prime minister of Baden-Württemberg, accusing him of 'collusion' with the CDU/CSU and SPD. Co-chair of the Greens, Simone Peter, hastened to express her indignation at Kretschmann's 'unilateral steps,' calling them 'absolutely wrong.' And many Green functionaries have already started talking about a new serious crisis in the party.
Be that as it may, the controversial bill passed the Bundesrat. The new rules allow, among other things, registered refugees to freely move around the country after three months of stay in Germany without permission from local authorities.
In addition, another fundamentally important decision was made. Now, those who are awaiting a decision on their asylum applications or have a so-called incomplete refugee status will be able to access the German labor market not after nine months, as before, but already after three months. After 15 months of stay in Germany (previously four years), they will receive a work permit without any restrictions. The federal budget will also help the German states and municipalities in building new dormitories for refugees, and will also assume part of the costs of their maintenance.
Meanwhile, last week the federal authorities again demanded from Brussels a fairer distribution of the refugee flow among the states of the European Union. Thus, Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière spoke of the 'not unlimited possibilities' of Germany to receive asylum seekers. The Christian Democrat considers it wrong that only four or five European countries take in the bulk of refugees. That is why de Maizière proposed that the European Union introduce quotas for refugees in order to distribute them proportionally across all EU states. 'We cannot alone solve all the problems of poverty in the world,' the politician emphasized, noting the most significant increase in asylum seekers in Germany since the country's reunification.
It must be said that the European Commission has already attempted to implement programs for the equal distribution of refugees in the EU, but these attempts have ended in failure. For example, refugees from Syria, entering the territory of the European Union through Bulgaria, do not want to stay in that country at all, as prescribed by the Dublin agreements, but at their own risk strive for the countries of Western Europe.
Alex Weiden,
«Русская Германия».