The Washington Post reports No Decisions at ‘Frank and Open’ Migration Talks.
7:20 p.m.
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says emergency talks European leaders held on migration didn’t yield any decisions but that the participants agreed they need to work together on the politically fraught issue.
- Sanchez told reporters that Sunday’s meeting involving the heads of at least 16 EU countries were “frank and open,” but “we don’t have any concrete consequences or conclusions.”
- He says: “Everyone agreed on the need to have a European vision; a common position on a common challenge.”
- As the meeting got started, several countries threw their weight behind the idea of setting up migrant reception centers in Africa to screen asylum-seekers before they depart for Europe.
4:45 p.m.
- Italy’s firebrand interior minister is defending Italy’s decision to ask the Libyan coast guard to rescue an estimated 1,000 migrants without the help of aid groups.
- Barcelona Mayor Ada Colao, who previously offered Barcelona as a port when Italy refused entry to another aid group’s rescue ship, repeated her willingness to take in the migrants and urged Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to intervene to allow Proactiva’s ship to “save lives.”
- She said: “Italy wants to leave the migrants in the hands of Libya, where they torture, rape and enslave” migrants.
4:25 p.m.
- Tensions between Italy and Malta are flaring anew over the fate of a German rescue ship with 234 migrants aboard that has been denied a port to disembark them.
- Malta’s home affairs minister, Michael Farrugia, and Italy’s transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, engaged in a Twitter war of words Sunday over which country was being more “inhuman” about the fate of the Lifeline and its passengers.
2:45 p.m.
- Italy’s populist 5-Star Movement is demanding that European countries step up and actually take action to deal with hundreds of thousands of migrants on the continent, warning that the future of Europe is at stake.
- The 5-Stars, who are in a ruling coalition with the anti-migrant League party, penned a blog Sunday titled “The migrant hypocrisy sinks Europe” as EU leaders met in Brussels on migration.
Smashing Success, Not
There are far more points and times in the article but that gives an idea of how well the meeting didn’t go.
By the way, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia all refused to attend the meeting. They flat out reject taking in migrants in general.
The Financial Times reports Italy Disrupts ‘Summit to Save Merkel’.
Instead of agreeing on anything other than the need to agree, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, a puppet for Matteo Salvini demanded the EU scrap the “Dublin Principle” which says migrants must apply for asylum in the first country in which they land.
Merkel Setup to Fail
Last week CSU leader Horst Seehofer agreed to let Merkel call this summit instead of following up on his threat of turning back refugees at the border.
By doing so, Seehofer gave Merkel enough rope in which she could hang herself. There was next to zero chance of a significant agreement at the summit.
When he follows through on rejecting migrants, she will fire him. The end of the CDU/CSU alliance will be on Merkel.
The German government is increasingly likely to collapse. Seehofer’s moves were designed so that Merkel would get the blame.
Things can backfire, and there still could be some sort of last minute agreement but it looks unlikely.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
It should be pointed out, it worked in Australia. Once word got around, the flood of ships laden with migrants heading to Oz slowed to a trickle almost immediately.
It is important to differentiate between “Germany” and “Merkel”. I am pretty sure that by now a significant majority of German voters opposes both Merkel’s migration policies and her and Macron’s “intensified EU integration” agenda. They just didn’t know what to do when the elections rolled around: vote for any left of center party, from the Social Democrats to the Greens to “Die Linke” (the Westernized version of the former East German communist party SED) and you get even more immigration and EU centralization. The Freedom Party (which luckily gained a lot of votes) is a very good choice, but it is too small; the AfD was also a possible choice (it gained a lot of votes as well), but also too small and a lot worse than the Freedom Party in terms of economic policies – moreover, Germans were incessantly told by their mainstream media that voting for the AfD was akin to voting for the Nazis in 1932 (it should be mentioned that a few AfD representatives are in fact a bit odious, and while that is not true of the party as a whole, it makes it easy for the media to put out anti-AfD propaganda). Given that they were not exactly spoiled for choice, German voters still sent a loud and clear message. Unfortunately the CDU and the socialists combined still got enough votes to recreate the “grand coalition” many voters had hoped would finally be booted out (at least this should completely destroy the socialists, so there is some upside to it). Anyway, Seehofer is fully aware of the situation and doesn’t want to go down with the sinking ship – better if he sinks the ship himself, as that will definitely boost his own popularity (and that of the Bavarian CSU party).
Mostly Un-employed people on welfare destroy the economics of a country even faster even if they are working age. Millions of these and Europe is bankrupt
In San Francisco, upsizing your dwelling with the additional room to fit a kid, takes $2 mill. For no other reason whatsoever, than to keep a sea of utterly useless expendables living high off of pure, zero value add rent seeking and redistribution from their betters.
Ensuring the idiot army gets to continue pretending their ” ‘real estate investment’ is making money,” is moe important to their fellow travelers in the apparatchik trade, than enabling people to raise children in above third world living conditions, after all. How else could the idiots be reliably recruited to pump their fists and cheer for maintaining and extending the financialization rackets?
Other US cities, if at all, differ only in degree. Ditto Europe. And for a long enough period to have dealt a seemingly fatal blow to an already disillusioned culture, ditto Japan.
There isn’t some unlimited amount of resources floating around in the world for dimwits to redistribute to their favorite diletantes without consequence. Every penny redistributed by the government; whether by inflation or by pointless laws; to zero-productivity nothings for sitting in a shack while it decays in the fog and/or sun, is a penny not available for those producing the wealth represented by that penny, to spend on affording child rearing. Can’t have it both ways, no matter how many dumb people thinks it feels better to pretend we can.
Exactly. I do not understand why many college educated millenials don’t want to get married or start a family. My kids both just graduated debt free but express no interest in marriage. Maybe that will change but I see it alot. I can see it if you are debt burdened with student loans with a degree that doesn’t market well. I wonder if you see the same thing in those who take up skilled trades with high earning power and no debt?
It is completely rational for people in poor nations to spend their life savings and accept even near certain death for the chance of illegally entering a rich nation where they can have a better life. Life just doesn’t mean much if you are stuck in a corrupt third world backwater with nothing but subsistence living before you for the rest of your days.
It is also completely rational for rich nations to do whatever they can to stop these economic migrants from crossing their borders and overwhelming their societies.
Well, the world could work on improving the economies of the emigrant nations, but that’s none of my business.
chickens running around with their heads cut off. I always love when politicians speak of the “end of XYZ”. Who cares? You’re the one living off of other peoples money. I can support myself no matter what these fools do.
Czech Republic changed its named to Czechia. It can be hard to follow all the name changes sometimes, but this one is pretty easy, as it saves you two syllables.
She said: “Italy wants to leave the migrants in the hands of Libya, where they torture, rape and enslave” migrants.
Well, maybe the U.S./Europeans shouldn’t have bombed Libya and killed Khadaffi. Trying to overthrow Assad wasn’t a very good idea, either, considering the mess it is creating in the EU now.
Not familiar with EU rules on immigration, but I find it odd that the mayor of Barcelona, Spain offered Barcelona as a port of entry to accept the immigrants from Africa. Wouldn’t this be akin to Mayor Bloomberg of NYC allowing migrants to enter the USA from the port of New York? Who sets the rules of governing in the country and also in the EU? It sounds like a mish-mash of governmental bodies colliding with each other.
Not to worry, the millions of Africans and Middle Easterners can simply travel to Mexico and cross into the USA, no questions asked. That’s the only humane solution, right Mish?
“If I pay a dime in tax, I DEMAND TO KNOW WHERE IT GOES.”
A very strong argument for taxes, along with all public finances in general, being paid and operated in an open, public, ledger currency, like Bitcoin. Allowing anyone who cares to, to see where every single penny they hand over, ultimately ends up being spent. It’s about diametrically opposed to the anonymity purpose Bitcoin was originally intended to serve. But in the special case of government, anonymity really is a bug, not a feature.
They daren’t say so out loud but that is most certainly what they want. If demographics are destiny the EU is screwed as is. What has been seen so far is just the opening stages. Something like 20M-40M new people are numbers I have heard bandied about to help bolster dependency ratios as the EU ages. Perhaps the dependency ratios won’t matter with automation but I have seen numbers that are many times the existing influx as needed.
Be aware, the highest levels in the EU want headcount.
EU demographics are heading to a not very good place very quickly.
The elite daren’t say it out loud but they want millions of new people in the EU.
Looks like Germany’s (Merkel’s) ability to shove migrants down every country’s throat is coming to an end. Good indeed. At long last these countries are showing the b%^&$ to stand up to Germany. Otherwise why bother to call yourself as an independent country. Reminds me of British colonies.
Another thing (as often remarked by Taleb, there is no skin in the game) Merkel pulled her immigration stunt for her political benefit and the price is paid by the citizens of various countries. Why should they? IT IS TIME to hold all the politicians, regulators, government accountable. All these people enjoy at tax-payers expense. Why should they? If I pay a dime in tax, I DEMAND TO KNOW WHERE IT GOES. Take the photo above, all the guys are paid by tax-payers. What do they bring to the table except COST. It is time to ensure they have a skin in the game.
That is the Australian solution
Here is the hard truth- Europe will have to stop letting these rescues take place in the Med with the understanding that the ships will be able to dock in the EU- that is the only way to stop the flow into the Med. It is the only solution.