Germany has been one of only six or seven EU member states to have actively welcomed migrants who have arrived in the bloc after making the seaborne journey across the Mediterranean, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Thursday, adding that countries should support a new European Commission proposal that calls for greater EU solidarity
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th November, 2020) Germany has been one of only six or seven EU member states to have actively welcomed migrants who have arrived in the bloc after making the seaborne journey across the Mediterranean, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Thursday, adding that countries should support a new European Commission proposal that calls for greater EU solidarity.
Seehofer spoke during a high-level EU conference and gave his support to the European Commission's new Pact on Migration and Asylum, which looks to create faster, efficient asylum processing procedures and establish shared responsibility across the bloc for migrants and asylum seekers.
"Germany has always participated in welcoming migrants from the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, when we're looking at redistributing migrants rescued at sea, there are six, maybe seven member states who take up this solidarity, and this is what we want to change. That is the aim of the commission proposal and we should all back this proposal fully," the German interior minister said at the High-level Interparliamentary Conference on Migration and Asylum in Europe.
During the 2015 surge in migration to the European Union, also known as the migrant crisis, Germany received as many as 1.5 million asylum claims. The bulk of the applications were made by Syrian and Afghan nationals, according to data published by the German Interior Ministry.
