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Interview: Refugee crisis opportunity to expand European integration: expert

Xinhua, September 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

The influx of refugees in Europe, though it has triggered quarrels among different countries over how to deal with the crisis, could be used as an opportunity to expand the integration of the continent, said an expert in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"The crisis is both a challenge and an opportunity," said Dr. Kai-Olaf Lang, an expert on Europe at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), adding that by addressing the crisis, European Union (EU) member states could improve their cooperation in fields of justice, interior affairs, migration, and asylum issues.

"The crisis will lead to more common ground in European domestic, foreign and security policies," Lang said.

On Thursday, European Council President Donald Tusk announced that a special summit on the refugee crisis would be held next Wednesday, one day after a scheduled meeting of EU justice and interior ministers on refugee relocation.

Lang said the experience in recent years showed that despite their differences in opinions, European countries could ultimately manage to use crises as opportunities and expand the integration.

After the euro zone debt crisis, he said "we now have financial and economic policy coordination measures that were unthinkable a few years ago."

However, challenges lie ahead for Europe, Lang added. In the short term, the enormous number of refugees need sufficient supplies such as food, beds and shelters. In the long term, the newcomers are expected to impact economic and social systems and require successful integration and acceptance.

Germany earned praises for its welcoming approach to refugees. After receiving tens of thousands of people, however, the richest country in Europe reinstated border controls in order to slow down the influx of refugees and to press its European neighbors to share the burden.

On Thursday, the head of Germany's migration and refugee office, Manfred Schmidt, resigned for "personal reasons". His office was criticized for it's slow pace of handling asylum applications. Endit