3. Declarayão de Bratislava (setembro de 2016)

"Bratislava Declaratlon by EU Member States of the southern border of the

European Union"

The latest figures confirm that ln 2016 the flow of migrants and refugees to Europe via the

Mediterranean route is on the increase. The lnternatlonal Organtzation for Mlgratlon (IOM) reports

that 2016 has seen a record number of people drowned in the Mediterranean: 3,167 so far, which

corresponds to 85 percent of all deaths at sea, and marks an increase of more than a third with

respect to last year. ln the meantime, following the slgning of the EU-Turkev Agreementthat closed

off the Balkan route, human traffickers have reorganlsed thelr operatlons, wlth the result that the

only posslble means of mass migration now is from the coasts of Líbva and Egypt to the countrles

that lie on the southern edge of Europe.

Faced wlth an lnflux of refugees whose numbers amount to 0.2 percent of its population, Europe Is

increasingly dlvided ln two. On one slde are the countries of the South deallng with the lmpact of

refugees arrMng from Africa and Asia, and on the other are the countrles of the North that are

sealing off thelr borders.

EU States ln general are being put under strain by the refugee emergency, by the economic and

monetarv crisis that is causlng massive and lastlng youth unemployment, and bv the wars and

confllcts that are afflicting neighbouring countries. None of these challenges can be deaJt with bv

single States acting atone. On the contrary, the challenges demand soUdarlty from all Member States

anda collectlve effort to develop a common agenda to overcome them.

ln the aftermath of Brexit and in view of the comlng elections in other EU Member States, it is

essential to repalr the fallure of solidarlty that Is currently paralyslng Europe. The situation Is far too

serious to waste time on recriminations, nor does it leave any scope for merely partlal solidarity. ln

fact, for decades, the process of European unification has been driven bv a readiness to seek

compromlse and consensus rather than by narrow-mlnded nationalism.

As Altiero Spinelli, one of the founders of the European proJect once observed, Europe Is not a

natural phenomenon falllng like rain from the sky, but nelther Is natlonalism. The "spirit of

Ventotene" evoked recentlv by the heads of the German, French and ltalian governments should

inspire us to set out a common agenda. starting with a foreign policy commitment to dealing with

the historical and endurlng crises, such as those ln the Mlddle East and along the eastern borders of

Europe. We need to undertake more joint defence and security initiatives, beginning wlth the

Mediterranean border; we need to pursue more robust strategies of development cooperation with

the refugees' countries of origin; and we need clear and collective commitments regarding thelr

relocatlon.

ln respect of relations with Russia, the European Union must remain true to the policv that it has so

far followed on the basis of consensus, with particular regard to the cond1t1ons that must be met

before sanctions may be llfted. For lts part, Germanv must accept that the geopolltlcal implicatlons

of lts externai energv policy should be open to discusslon, and needs to be aligned with European

objectives, especially as regards the revlsion ofthe North Stream 2 plpellne.

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