By Andreas Kißler
BERLIN (Dow Jones)–Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has expressed confidence that the planned EU asylum reform will be finally passed by the next European elections in June 2024, despite resistance from Poland and Hungary. “It is the case that we know these positions and statements,” said Scholz after the informal EU summit in Granada, where both countries again criticized the asylum plans. “The sounds that you hear from time to time should not obscure the fact that in fact it has always been possible to achieve the necessary unity,” said the Chancellor. Scholz cited coping with the corona pandemic and support for Ukraine as examples.
After the numerous decisions made by the EU Council of Ministers on asylum reform this year, one can hope “that an agreement can be reached with Parliament before the end of the European Parliament’s legislative period,” he said. With the agreement of the EU interior ministers on the reform, the basis for legislation has been created “which will then create binding rules for all 27 member states,” emphasized Scholz. “This cannot be blocked by individuals.” Countries that criticized the common European attempt to deal with irregular migration “should not at the same time be those that wave those who arrive at them through so that they can arrive in Germany,” warned the Chancellor.
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October 06, 2023 12:15 ET (16:15 GMT)