Statement by Angela MERKEL, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany on the current situation in the European Union, during the EP plenary session in Strasbourg.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

EU - Germany (T)

MERKEL, Angela (DE)

relations between France and Germany (T)

Statement by Angela MERKEL, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany on the current situation in the European Union

SOUNDBITE (German), Angela MERKEL, German Chancellor, (On EU enlargement of 2004, when 10 East-European states joined the EU) : "Today we recognize that all the effort that went into that back then has paid us all back. It has not brought us lower it has built us up and it has contributed not to less freedom, but to more freedom, it hasn't cut down on diversity, it has added to diversity. (Applause) In brief, it helped us along the way to more Europe."

SOUNDBITE (German), Angela MERKEL, German Chancellor, "I know that a foreign security policy must continue to try to solve the conflicts and to stop the causes for people having to flee. We will have to put forward much more money for this and the decision to bring this about has to be made swiftly."

SOUNDBITE (German), Angela MERKEL, German Chancellor, "We cannot shut ourselves off from the world and what happens in it. Never before since the Second World War have so many people being fleeing; more than 60 Million and I think that figure alone shows quite what the size of the issue is. Nobody easily or voluntarily leaves their place of birth, their fatherland, the place they came from, but we also have to say to this people that they cannot stay here and we need to make sure that the people who require our protection against war and persecution are receiving this help and we need a political process to bring about, sorting out the problems in Syria with all international actors and a greater role for Europe in all of that."

SOUNDBITE (German), Angela MERKEL, German Chancellor, "And equally it will only be possible to tackle the huge efforts to integrate refugees, only if we do it together will it be possible. We have many people coming here and who are wishing to integrate in our societies and that means that we have to uphold existing rules and it does mean that people will have to learn the particular language. We also have a duty to stand by those people who come here in need to see them as people and not as an anonymous mass of people quite irrespective of the fact of whether they may have a prospect or not."

SOUNDBITE (German), Angela MERKEL, German Chancellor, "Shutting ourselves off in the time of the internet is illusory, it will serve nobody's interest but we will have to face up to this very great problem because it is our values that bind us together and if we don't bear in mind our values and identity we will lose them. And we will betray ourselves."

SOUNDBITE (German), Angela MERKEL, German Chancellor, "We have to take greater care of those who are currently in dire need in our neighbouring countries and we have responsibilities both here and abroad and if we face up those then we will stand the test. And we will come out of this well and we also see that the opportunities here are greater than the risks. We will have to do an awful lot of more work in convincing people of the value of Europe and I hope that after 100 years of hatred and wars between our people, President Francois Hollande, we will now show that we can fight together for the same objectives." (Applause)

SOUNDBITE (German), Angela MERKEL, German Chancellor, I would like to invite all of you here to join with us in doing that work of convincing people of the value of it. Every single member of this House will play an important role, back home, back in our constituencies, in fact in the full face of all European voters back in 1989 Helmut Kohl was thinking about the uprising of the Central and Eastern Europe and I quote: '...but with cleverness and with moderation and flexibility we will achieve it.' Thank you very much."