- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Refugee Crisis Endangers 'Very Idea of Europe' – French Prime Minister

© AFP 2023 / CHRISTOF STACHE Refugees wait for a special train at the train station in Freilassing, near the Austrian-German border, southern Germany
Refugees wait for a special train at the train station in Freilassing, near the Austrian-German border, southern Germany - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The migrant crisis is putting the concept of the European Union, and specifically its core value of freedom of movement, at grave risk, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Friday.

French President Francois Hollande (L) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) address a press conference with the Ukrainian President following talks at the chancellery in Berlin on August 24, 2015. - Sputnik International
France and Germany in Panic Over 'End of Europe' as Realities Hit Home
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Valls, the refugee crisis “endangers even the European project,” while the Schengen area “may die.”

“We cannot…accept all the refugees…fleeing the terrible war in Iraq or Syria. Otherwise our societies will be totally destabilized,” Valls told the BBC broadcaster.

“If Europe is not capable of protecting its own borders, it’s the very idea of Europe that will be questioned…The concept of Europe that our founding fathers had, yes it is in very grave danger,” Valls said in the interview.

Europe has been beset by a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants fleeing their home countries to escape violence and poverty.

EU border agency Frontex detected over 1.55 million illegal border crossings in 2015. The Schengen agreement on freedom of movement inside the block has been jeopardized, since a number of EU member states re-imposed border controls last year in a bid to stop the inflow of refugees.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала