Germany announced that it would temporarily reintroduce checks at the border with Austria, from where tens of thousands of refugees come, thus suspending the Schengen agreement on free movement in Europe. Meanwhile, Austrian officials dispute with the Hungarian official on the same subject. All of Europe seems on the brink of division because of this crisis that it has a hard time managing.
The subject was approached by Radu Tudor in the Sunday "Meeting Point" show, together with MEPs Renate Weber and Victor Boştinaru.
MEP Renate Weber explained that she voted in favor of compulsory quotas of refugees and explained that she has an idea she remained consistent with.
"I voted in favor of compulsory quotas. I did this because I am consistent. I took public stands on it countless times. Less in Romania, where this topic was not addresses. But I, personally, I publicly said in the European Parliament plenary, in dozens of interviews in all EU countries concerned. At that time they were immigrants. Now they are refugees. When they show up at your borders, you cannot leave everything on the shoulders of Greece and Italy. Both countries were taken by storm. For years we have been discussing this, that solidarity would be a sharing of the people, not for good, but at least until they review their applications. "
Renate Weber criticized the stance of former President Traian Basescu on this issue.
"About the comments of the former president, I’d rather not comment. In all honesty, I tell you, Traian Băsescu should be ashamed, I am so embarrassed about the fact that he was president for two terms and I worked for him for a year, at Cotroceni. He is being a genuine right extremist, now. This is how I categorize him today. "
Moreover, the MEP added that the feeling of rejection of some Romanian is not unjustified and that there are points in history we can reminisce, but it is also about a lack of experience of the former communist states in such situations.
"But people need to understand – it is the same phenomenon as in the early 1990s then it was about Hungarians. Then most extremists were people who had come into contact with the Hungarians. It is not surprising and is not to blame people or others who do not accept. Attention, these countries, the during the communist period, they have not experienced it. While the West had something to do with it. These people have a culture of interaction with those who are in such situations. You do not take them forever. When the situation changes at home, many of them go back.
You cannot live in 2015 and ask for your rights and argue that you believe in Christian values and deny the right to life of someone going through a tragedy. I understand when they say that we are prepared only for 1,700 refugees. Yes, but we live in an exceptional period. We are talking about a war for years, hundreds of thousands of people are affected and in such situations you do things as you go. Just do not imagine that in Germany there is already a capacity for 800,000 or 500,000 refugees. And unfortunately we must admit that the waves of refugees will not stop in 2015. "