The last time the leaders of France and Germany stood together in parliament was 26 years ago when Francois Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl gave a similar speech just weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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The leaders said Europe should help the countries hosting millions of refugees and try to stop the Syria in order to reduce refugee numbers. You said Europe isn’t working so we must have more Europe.
A strong Europe is the only way to guarantee security, Mr Hollande said as he pressed for a strengthened eurozone, a stronger border control system among the border-free Schengen countries and a common asylum system for refugees within the EU.
But a tone of mutual congratulation for the reunification of Germany and embrace of ex-communist eastern Europe into the EU over a quarter century was marred by vocal Eurosceptics in the Strasbourg chamber, whose rise poses a threat to the Union – and to the re-election prospects in 2017 of both the conservative German leader and her Socialist French counterpart.
France and Germany have highlighted the need for European countries to act together for resolving the ongoing refugee crisis and the conflict in Syria.
Britain’s United Nations Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said Wednesday the Libyan government has approved the European Union mission and expressed hope for a vote possibly this week with a high number of “yes” votes.
“What happens there will determine the balance of the whole region for a long time”, Mr Hollande told European lawmakers yesterday in Strasbourg.
EU President Donald Tusk, speaking in the same forum on Tuesday, said Europe needs to be more dynamic to protect itself from the forceful policies of neighbors who might want to see its fortunes suffer.
“In the refugee crisis we must not succumb to the temptation of falling back into acting in nationalistic terms…national solo efforts are no solution to the refugee crisis”, Merkel said.
European Union countries are set to agree on a crackdown on migrants refused entry into the bloc and move to swiftly send them home. France is now severely diminished, trapped inside a currency from which frankly she can’t recover and the French voice in this relationship and in Europe is little more now frankly than a pipsqueak.
Merkel added: “It is exactly now that we need more Europe”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she believed Volkswagen was doing its best to clear up its diesel emissions scandal and urged the green lobby not to condemn the broader auto industry, warning this could put thousands of jobs at risk.
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Led by the Italian flagship Cavour, the flotilla also includes two German and a British, French and Spanish warship each.
