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WORLD NEWSWednesday 20 January 2016

EU chief Tusk gives migrant plan 2 months to work

LORNE COOK ting thousands of people in of EU leaders in Brussels on few are having a real im- jobs to find more danger-
pact. A refugee sharing ous routes to Europe.
Associated Press danger and creating more March 17-18 “will be the plan launched in Septem- “Policies of deterrence,
ber has barely got off the along with their chaotic
BRUSSELS (AP) The Euro- business for smugglers. last moment to see if our ground and countries are response to the humani-
still not sending back peo- tarian needs of those who
Migrants walk through snow from the Macedonian border into Serbia, near the village of Mira- ple who don’t qualify for flee, actively worsened the
tovac, Serbia, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016. Bracing cold temperatures and snow storms hundreds of asylum. conditions of thousands of
migrants continue to arrive daily into Serbia in order to register and continue their journey further A package of sweeten- vulnerable men, women
north towards Western Europe. ers earmarked for Turkey and children,” said MSF
- including 3 billion euros head of operations, Brice
(AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu) ($3.3 billion), easier visa ac- de le Vingne.
cess for Turkish citizens and The group urged the EU to
pean Union’s top official “We have no more than strategy works.” fast-tracking of the coun- create more legal ways
warned Tuesday the bloc two months to get things The EU spent most of 2015 try’s EU membership pro- to come to Europe, allow
has just two months to get under control,” European devising policies to cope cess - has borne little fruit. asylum applications at
its migration strategy in or- Council President Don- with the arrival of more The failure has raised ten- the land border between
der amid criticism that its ald Tusk toldEU lawmak- than 1 million people flee- sions between neighbors, Turkey and Greece, and
current policies are put- ers, warning that a summit ing conflict or poverty but particularly along the Bal- set up a real search and
kan route used by migrants rescue system, after more
arriving in Greece to reach than 3,000 people died try-
their preferred destinations ing to reach the EU by sea
like Germany or Sweden in 2015.
further north. As pressure built
Tusk warned that if Europe among EU partner nations,
fails to make the strategy four Central European
work “we will face grave members confirmed Tues-
consequences such as the day their fierce opposition
collapse of Schengen,” to a plan to redistribute
the 26-nation passport-free 160,000 refugees from Italy
travel zone. and Greece, and called
His remarks came after for the strict control and
Doctors Without Borders, registration of all refugees
also known by its French on the external borders of
acronym MSF, said that the Schengen zone.
border closures and tough- The Czech Republic, Hun-
er policing only force peo- gary, Poland and Slova-
ple seeking sanctuary or kia, who form an informal
grouping known as the
Germany: Visegrad Four or V4, reject-
ed any compulsory refu-
Ex-Red Army Faction suspects linked to robberies gee quotas. Officials from
Slovenia and Serbia also
BERLIN (AP) — Three former Garweg was found in a involved in the failed heist The Red Army Faction was warned of retaliatory mea-
members of the disbanded getaway car used in a and are investigating them founded in 1970 and is sures if Austria tries to slow
leftist militant group Red failed robbery June 6 in for attempted murder and sometimes known as the the entry of migrants. That,
Army Faction have been Stuhr, near the northern city attempted serious robbery. Baader-Meinhof Group, they say, would cause a
linked to two botched ar- of Bremen. Prosecutors said there is no after two of its most promi- domino effect and ratch-
mored car robberies after During the robbery three indication the attack had a nent members, Andreas et up tensions along the
spending years in hiding, masked assailants armed “terrorist background.” Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. so-called Balkan migrant
in what German authori- with automatic rifles and “Rather, it must be as- The group carried out nu- corridor back to Greece,
ties said Tuesday may have an anti-tank weapon sumed that the crime was merous assassinations, kid- where most migrants are
been attempts to continue blocked an armored car in meant to finance a life un- nappings, bombings and arriving from Turkey.
financing their life under- a supermarket parking lot, derground,” Verden pros- robberies to further its politi- “If Austria and Germany in-
ground. then one opened fire on ecutors said in a statement. cal beliefs — from anti-im- troduce certain measures
Public broadcaster NDR the vehicle but they were The trio is also suspected of perialism to supporting the that would mean tighter
first reported Monday that unable to get inside. attempting a similar rob- Palestinian cause — lead- control of the flow of mi-
DNA matching that of Dan- Prosecutors in nearby bery on Dec. 28 in the cen- ing the West German gov- grants, Slovenia will do the
iela Klette, Ernst-Volker Wil- Verden confirmed that tral German city of Wolfs- ernment to classify it as a same,” Foreign Minister Karl
helm Staub and Burkhard they believe the trio was burg. That too failed. terrorist organization.q Erjavec said. q