Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/567863
6 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 SEptEmbEr 2015 News Malta to take in at least Continued froM Page 1 "When a few months ago, an- other European leader with a Eu- ropean heart and mind, Matteo Renzi, and myself literally pulled all stops to the indifference of the rest of Europe on the migrants tragedy, we saw a face of Europe which we found hard to digest," Malta's prime minister Joseph Muscat recounted. "We saw blank faces and had to face political talk such as 'we can- not go back telling our citizens that we are taking in migrants who are landing in other coun- tries'. Some of these leaders who, after long hours of debate agreed to help countries like Italy and Greece, are now turning on us to assist them." Austria and Hungary are deal- ing with their own inf lux and the UK, who had opted out of the scheme, has now commit- ted to resettle up to 20,000 from Syria over the next four and a half years. Britain will thus be taking in refugees from camps in the re- gion and not those who have al- ready made it to Europe. Sharing refugees Stepping up their game, France and Germany are to take on an extra 55,000 refugees over the next two years. "We've experi- enced a moving and breathtaking weekend and want to thank eve- ryone who has helped. We can be proud," German Chancellor An- gela Merkel said as the country welcomed 20,000 refugees over the weekend and prepared to wel- come thousands more. "We know we were quick to save the banks. We have to be quick to meet this challenge too," she said. A spokesperson for the Maltese government told MaltaToday that the number of people who will be taken in by Malta has yet to be confirmed. While the Commis- sion's plan will be presented on Wednesday, the justice and home affairs ministers will meet on Monday. Syrians arriving in Malta this year numbered just 77, compared to the 129 received last year. Asked whether Malta would be taking in more refugees than the proposed 133, a government spokesperson said that "this is something that we discuss with the EU according to the submis- sions". "We do not have a number and this isn't a negotiation. We will take our share, even though in the past we faced huge numbers and the EU had failed to help us. Today we will help share the re- sponsibility and lead by example," the spokesman said. Never easy Following an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers last week, High Representative Federica Mogherini immediately pointed out that the meeting had not been an easy one. But Mogherini's first words were to urge member states to start using the right words: from illegal immigration to recognis- ing that it is "partially a migrant f low, but it is mainly a refugee f low which puts us in a different situation when it comes to our le- gal and moral duties. In our eyes we have the pictures of the people marching from Budapest to Vien- na, with European f lags." She recognised that, whilst a few months ago it was an is- sue only Italy, or Malta, Spain or Greece were raising; "today, it's mainly focused on, when you talk of Member States, Hungary, Greece, Austria and Germany". "It could turn to other Member States in the future. And I hope – finally, finally – we all realise that these people are coming to Europe, not to one or another Member State. They are coming to Europe. Unfortunately, it took us some months to realise this, but maybe that awareness is fi- nally there." Mogherini reiterated that fight- ing against smugglers' and traf- fickers' networks was an impor- tant part of the plan. She is now pushing for the EU to operate in high seas to fight them. The High Representative said it is of common interest to work on the root causes: one is Libya and the other is Syria. "The European Union, its Mem- ber States – I would say the whole international community, but here we can only speak for our- selves – are ready to support in all possible ways, from day one, a new government of national unity in Libya, to manage all the difficult challenges it will have in front of itself." On Syria, Mogherini said the EU had to intensify its work to find a political solution to the conf lict. More than 4 million refugees have fled the country since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011