go to the original language article
Brussels – The Spanish Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, called on Thursday for “maximum caution and maximum respect” for fundamental rights and not to take measures that could jeopardize the right to asylum, after the European Commission presented a communication against the instrumentalization of migrants, which could allow certain restrictions to be applied.
Regarding the text of the European Commission, Grande-Marlaska said upon his arrival at a European Council of Interior Ministers that “it has to be the subject of a very detailed analysis now, with a lot of calmness.”
He added that “evidently for Spain, and we have always said it, the right to asylum, the right to refuge is evidently essential” as it is “a basic pillar of a democracy” and at the same time “the values that define what the European Union is,” and in that context, he emphasized the need for “maximum caution and maximum respect for fundamental rights.”
Besides calling for Brussels’ communication to be “analyzed very carefully and within the framework of scrupulous respect for fundamental rights,” he stressed that for Spain “the right of access to international asylum protection is essential and is individual.”
The communication presented this week is based on the premise that Russia and Belarus are “exploiting” people, through a “hybrid war,” as a political tool to destabilize the EU and endanger the security and integrity of the Schengen area and the Union’s security, and aims to prevent these countries from using the right to asylum for these purposes.
“In exceptional situations, countries can limit asylum rights, but it must happen under strict conditions and with legal limits, be truly exceptional, temporary, proportionate, and for clearly defined cases and always for security reasons,” said in the presentation the Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen.
On the other hand, regarding the Member States that have decided to temporarily pause the processing of asylum applications from Syrian citizens in light of the circumstances in that country, the Spanish minister considered that “at this time it is also necessary to be absolutely cautious and not to take any measures that could undermine their right to asylum and refuge.”
“I believe that we are in a very early situation and with possibilities that, in our opinion, do not advise taking any measures that could weaken such an important right as the right to international protection,” he added. (December 12)