Knife-trust in democratic sore back

Ravage in departure hall after bomb-blast at Brussels Airport departure hall 2016 03 22

View from Gate B entrance into departure hall Brussels Airport 20160322

Hitting the heart of Europe in a very harsh way by the Islamic State was once more an effort to destabilise the economy in the capitalist countries and to frighten the kafirs or unbelieving people.

Instead of bringing to God these people are creating more and more peevishness, rage and feeling of revenge. Instead of winning people for the Islamic faith they are making people cross with Muslims.

With the Paris and Brussels attacks they clearly want to show the world Daesh or ISIS is not accepting democratic values and or liberty of thinking. This freedom which we have to defend so hard should also clearly be shown to those who came as a refugee in our regions. Therefore those who instigated fights in the previous months because girls in their camps were not wearing veils, should straight ahead been sent back to the place where they came from and where people want to say what others have to wear and to believe.

Victims at Maalbeek Metrostation in the EU heart of Brussels 2016 03 22

Maalbeek casualties after the bomb-blast of 22 March 2016

We have to be very careful not to give the terrorist attackers what they want to give in by our fear and overreaction. Their provoking actions should be taken serious, but all the institutions, governmental and religious, should act appropriately, telling people this has nothing to do with religion at all, but about lunatics who want to show their power to the world.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz issued the following statement:

“I am horrified by the despicable and cowardly attacks which took place in Brussels today. My thoughts go out first and foremost to the victims and the wounded, as well as their families and friends.

The European commission also expressed its deepest sympathy to the people of Brussels, to the many wounded, to the families and loved ones of those cruelly hit by the explosions at Zaventem airport and Maalbeek/Maelbeek Metro Station.

Martin Schulz said:

These acts anger and sadden me at the same time. They are born from barbarism and hatred which do justice to nothing and no one.

Brussels, like other cities hit by such terrorist attacks, will stand strong, and the European institutions hosted so generously by the Brussels institutions and its inhabitants will do likewise.

In the name of the European Parliament I have expressed to the Belgian Prime Minister my compassion and solidarity towards the Belgian people.”

The President of the European Commission gave in a statement on the 22nd of March:

I commend the security forces, emergency services and all those who have helped victims and are still doing so now.

I would like to reassure the employees of the Commission and the European Institutions that their security remains a priority for me and that all possible measures will be taken in full cooperation with the Belgian authorities.

These attacks have hit Brussels today, Paris yesterday – but it is Europe as a whole that has been targeted. The European Union and its Institutions stand united in the face of terrorism.

These events have affected us, but they have not made us afraid. We will continue our work, to face the terrorist threat together, and to bring European solutions to questions that concern us all.

All those who find Europe should be united and a place were all sorts of people can live in peace should take care that all nations of the union will respect the Schengen agreements and though we do understand there have to be tougher boarder controls for a moment, they should be limited in time. The European Commission and the Union’s Parliament should take care that no un-democratic country and no country where there still exists torture and limitation on the freedom of speech can become a member of the union (like Turkey).

With efforts to strengthen the EU’s external borders ongoing and following the deal struck with Turkey at the EU summit on 17-18 March, the Commission not only should be keen to remove the temporary border controls imposed by several member states within the Schengen zone, as soon as possible, they should make work of it.

The revealed roadmap for restoring the Schengen zone should be at heart to all members of the union. The previous years our economy has received the advantages of the created internal area without borders, where persons and goods can circulate freely, without wasting precious time with paperwork and passport controls. Some may love to see people controlled severely at our inner borders, but they forget that everybody should be equally treated and as such shall have to calculate lots of extra time every time a boarder has to be passed.

But they also should remember that Schengen is one of the key means through which European citizens can exercise their freedoms, and the internal market can prosper and develop. To back out of it would be a terrible mistake.

Blue: Schengen Area
Green: Countries with open borders
Ochre: Legally obliged to join

It is true that for the moment too many people could enter the union from outside our “protected zones”. The conflict and crisis in Syria and elsewhere in the region have triggered record numbers of refugees and migrants arriving in the European Union, which in turn has revealed serious deficiencies at parts of the Union’s external borders and resulted in a wave – through approach applied by some Member States. This has led to the creation of a route across the Western Balkans which sees migrants travelling swiftly north. In reaction, several Member States have resorted to reintroducing temporary internal border controls, placing in question the proper functioning of the Schengen area of free movement and its benefits to European citizens and the European economy. Restoring the Schengen area, without controls at internal borders, is therefore of paramount importance for the European Union as a whole.

Several member states temporarily reintroducing border controls to deal with the refugee crisis and terrorism threats, weaken not only the union. Such actions take away the credibility of the community. Belgium, Germany and France now may be in an emergency situation but Denmark, Sweden and Austria are not. The Netherlands after yesterday’s incident also tightened again their border control (like a few weeks ago)

Maalbeek station G4S officer taking care of wounded tube passenger 2016 03 22

France is to deploy an extra 1,600 police officers at its borders following the Brussels attack, the country’s interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, has announced.

“It is essential to maintain a vigilance,”

he said in a televised address.

The German state rail system, Deutsche Bahn, has halted its high-speed rail service from Germany to Brussels. The company said its ICE trains were stopping at the border city of Aachen.

Security has been increased at train-stations (like Brussels Central, Brussels South, and London St Pancreas International), airports and key locations including Dover, Calais, and at the east coast ports. It has also been increased at key London transport interchanges and on the tube network.The underground in Brussels stayed closed today. (23 march 2016)

On 16 March the civil liberties committee adopted a report calling for a centralised EU system for asylum claims with national quotas. MEPs say a new system is needed to ensure fairness and shared responsibility, solidarity and swift processing of applications.

During the EU summit on 17-18 March European heads of state and government agreed a deal with Turkey that will see new irregular migrants arriving at Greek islands returned to the country, while for every for Syrian being returned to Turkey from the Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled to the EU.

During his speech at the start of the summit, EP President Martin Schulz underlined that any arrangement reached with Turkey could not replace a genuine EU migration and asylum policy. He called for an overhaul of existing rules and the establishment of a European Coast and Border Guard, as proposed by the Commission.

Fearing that Abdeslam’s arrest activates other terrorists’ cells the Belgian government has to control who comes in but also who goes out of the country. Interpol and the secret services have to join forces to close the network which remains active in Europe. Interior Minister of Belgium Jan Jambon confirmed that an attack was under preparation since heavy weapons and ammunition were found in the terrorist’s apartment just a few days ago.

Mike Hookem, Ukip’s defence spokesperson

Those who think Schengen is jeopardizing our security, like Mike Hookem, should know that when we would have strong outer borders the travelling from one to an other inner state would not be a problem when there is also a co-operation between all the police and security forces. The MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, who is appalled at the loss of life and injuries, said:

“This horrific act of terrorism shows that Schengen free movement and lax border controls are a threat to our security.”

Mr Hookem said 5,000 “jihadists” were

“at large in the EU having slipped in from Syria”

– citing concerns raised last month by the head of Europol Rob Wainwright.

For sure our forces would better keep a close eye on those returned jihadists. But they, like any European or non-European entering the European Union should normally be controlled at our outside borders or at the arrivals airport when coming from outside the union. Once coming from an internal flight they should, like anybody, be able to pass the EU citizens control posts.

The European Union can deliver on the joint responsibility of protecting the external border. Moreover, related challenges beyond border control need to be addressed in order to create the confidence needed to restore the full functioning of the Schengen area, as set out in the Commission’s Communication of 10 February. This includes in particular a substantial reduction in the flow of irregular migrants to Greece, by working with Turkey to fully implement the Joint Action Plan, and with the support of NATO. The full application of the existing Dublin rules must be progressively restored, with the full participation of Greece, in line with the Commission’s recommendation of 10 February, whilst improving these rules for the future based on the objective of solidarity and fair burden-sharing between Member States. The emergency relocation schemes already in place since September 2015 must deliver concrete results in terms of meaningful volumes of persons relocated from Greece.

The members may not hesitate to send back all those who are not behaving well or do show signs that they do not agree with our way of life. Also those persons who have come here for other reasons than having to flee their country for violence or political reasons should be effectively returned.

The reintroduction of internal border controls on a sustained basis within the EU would not solve the challenges of the migration crisis, yet it would entail huge economic, political and social costs for the EU and the individual Member States. It would also risk putting in jeopardy the judicial and police cooperation that has become one of the key elements of added-value arising from the Schengen system.

The stabilisation of the Schengen system through the use of its safeguard mechanisms is essential in order to ensure the subsequent lifting of all internal border controls. To fail to do so would not only deprive people of the huge benefits of free movement across borders, but it would impose major economic costs on the EU economy as a whole by damaging the Single Market.

From an economic perspective, the Commission has estimated that full re-establishment of border controls to monitor the movement of people within the Schengen area would generate immediate direct costs for the EU economy in a range between €5 and €18 billion annually. (Estimated for road freight transport, cross border passenger mobility, tourism and corresponding administrative costs at the border.)

These costs would be concentrated on certain actors and regions but would inevitably impact the EU economy as a whole.

When having received a knife in the body we must be careful how we try to pull it out, not bringing more damage to the body than by leaving it there and waiting for the medics.

Europe needs some very good medics now.

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Find to read previous postings:

Daesh hits heart of Europe

A Black day for Belgium – Brussels Airport ravage

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