"Germany is a county of hope", Merkel

[Melech 9,900]

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened her traditional summer press conference Monday by noting that – while the suffering is real and the stories are too often tragic – there are positives Germans can take from the refugee crisis now engulfing her nation and all of Europe.

Her words came as other European leaders have cast refugees as a threat to Europe, even at times tying their arrival to the current terror threat facing the continent. She also spoke after a weekend during which several German leaders, for the first time, noted that even last week’s updated forecasts on the number of refugees expected to arrive in Germany this year understate the issue.

Last week, the forecast was as many as 800,000 this year. This weekend, two state governors said they were preparing for 1 million asylum seekers by the end of 2015.

“If so many people brave such hardship to come here, this is a sign of approval for us,” Merkel said. “The world sees Germany as a country of hope and of chances. That hasn’t always been the case.”

 In this crisis, Germany has taken in more refugees than other Europeans nations. But even with the continent’s most powerful economy, Germany cannot deal with the crisis alone.

“The countries of Europe have to share the responsibility of caring for asylum seekers,” Merkel said. “After all, universal civil rights were a founding element of the European Union. If Europe fails to cope with this refugee crisis, it will no longer be the Europe we cherish.”

The chancellor added that the refugee issue will take years to work out and might require bureaucratic standards be suspended. Building standards might have to be ignored. Government employment centers may need to up temporary shops in refugee centers to determine qualifications. She said Germany needs more teachers and teaching methods to help the young refugees now arriving.

“German thoroughness is great,” she said. “But what is needed now is German flexibility.”

Monday, she said: “There can be no tolerance of those who question the dignity of other people. There is no tolerance of those who are not ready to help, where, for legal and humanitarian reasons, help is due.”

Her words came days after two governors, whose states are responsible for housing and processing their fair share of the refugees now flooding into Germany, said the numbers arriving this year will soar past the current estimates.

“Our state government is proactively getting ready for more than forecast to arrive,” said Brandenburg Gov. Dietmar Woidke. “Even so, I’m afraid we’re going to have to resort to winterized tents. We have to have a plan.”

 

Instead, the housing solutions today include a brothel in Erfurt, a monastery in Dinkelsbuehl in Bavaria, a former concentration camp in Schwerte in the Ruhr, a hotel in Augsburg and a police station in Bad Lobenstein in Thuringia. A recently failed hardware store chain has provided officials with options in cities around Germany.

Berlin has announced plans to convert a jail for use by refugees, and there are now discussions of using the old Tempelhof airport terminal. Tempelhof, known to Americans as the U.S. airbase used for the Berlin Airlift in 1948-49, and therefore home of the much loved “candy-bombers” (U.S. pilots who upon takeoff dropped treats to the German children below), was only closed down in 2008. The terminal today is used for twice-a-year fashion shows.

The current suggestion is that it could house up to 4,000 refugees.

Berlin council representative Mario Czaja said on a radio RBB interview Monday, “I don’t rule out any location, any unused building is a possibility.”

Herwig Birg, a prominent German demographics expert, said Monday that the numbers should not be daunting to Germans. After World War II, 12 million displaced ethnic Germans came as refugees to East or West Germany and were absorbed.

“Right now, 2 million would not be a problem, in this economy,” he said. “In fact, Germany has a lack of workers, at all levels.”

He said Germany is in need of such basic workers as bakers, butchers and hair dressers. Jobs go unfilled in nursing, engineering and agriculture, “and many jobs not attractive enough to Germans today.”

He noted that immigration isn’t an answer to the deep demographic crisis in Germany, and Europe, today. Eventually immigrants age and become part of the graying population crisis. But they are a short-term help in dealing with a population that is aging and declining to the point that he notes “ethnic Germans are a thing of the past. They are part of history.”

German President Joachim Gauck struck a similar note in an interview with the General-Anzeiger newspaper that was published Monday.

“To understand the opportunity of immigration, more Germans need to say farewell to their image of a nation that is very homogenous, predominantly German-speaking, Christian and fair-skinned,” he said. “Reality has become much more multifaceted. . . . I think we need to redefine nation as a community of diverse people who accept common values.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/article32928666.html#storylink=cpy"

 

 

 

[artpopmess 369]

Packing my bags atm

[Guest]

Glad to see someone that does not agree with Hungary's mean positions

[monketsharona 90,361]

It won't happen soon in France ^^ 

[Goosey 3,017]

Not happening in the UK or Eastern European EU countries. 

 

[craig 680]

Germany is very rich and has an exceptionally low birthrate.

It's scary though, as it seems if you take in large numbers of culturally incompatible refugees ior ones that struggle economically, it breeds far right politics. Even in supposedly progressive countries.

[SKANK 14,288]

Milk, Obama, Merkel, shilling hope as if hope matters.

[TiphEret 1,320]

It won't happen soon in France ^^ 

How is it there? 

[super ultra 878]

Glad to see someone that does not agree with Hungary's mean positions

big part of the people who lives here (in Hungary) don't agree with the government's actions, just saying 

[Guest]

big part of the people who lives here (in Hungary) don't agree with the government's actions, just saying 

obviously I  meant  the government

[Alii 2,039]

“ethnic Germans are a thing of the past. They are part of history.”

This part made me sad.  

[Melech 9,900]

“ethnic Germans are a thing of the past. They are part of history.”

This part made me sad.  

why?

[Alii 2,039]

why?

Idk. We have been told when we were very young here that ethnic Germans and (Swedish) would become a thing of the past. 

I think it is sad for Germans to read this. ?

But I'm very happy those refugees are going to live a better life. ♥️

[Melech 9,900]

Idk. We have been told when we were very young here that ethnic Germans and (Swedish) would become a thing of the past. 

I think it is sad for Germans to read this. ?

But I'm very happy those refugees are going to live a better life. ♥️

It's because german people get older and mix with other ethnicities. That's how life goes. Doesn't mean that German culture gonna die though. It just get mixed with others

 

[Guest]

I may dislike Merkel and her whole party, but glad she is finally breaking the silence. She has been very unlikeable lately.