2024-09-16 03:29:46
The war in Ukraine could cause the number of refugees to rise, warns Green Party politician Anton Hofreiter. However, he is against controls at internal borders.
In view of the upcoming tightening of controls at Germany’s land borders, Anton Hofreiter, chairman of the European Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, has warned of a massive increase in the number of refugees. The Green politician stressed the urgency of consistent support for Ukraine in the war against Russia in order to prevent a wave of refugees in Europe. “If we do not continue to support Ukraine consistently, we must expect hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Russian war of aggression in the coming years,” Hofreiter told the “Tagesspiegel”.
Hofreiter also called for a uniform European migration policy. “It would be the beginning of the end of the EU if every member state introduced its own border controls,” he warned. A coordinated approach is needed, particularly in relations with Poland.
Hofreiter referred to the criticism of the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk regarding the planned additional controls at Germany’s internal borders. Tusk had previously stressed on Platform X that measures at the EU’s external borders were particularly necessary to curb irregular migration.
Starting Monday, stationary controls by the federal police will begin at all German land borders. Such controls already exist at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland. Hofreiter expressed the expectation that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Tusk will continue to work closely together to find a solution at the European level.