Wednesday, December 28, 2016

EU Bulletin - Juncker’s Christmas Message: “EU to Fight Terror with Openness“ - Image: Juncker-Merkel 'Openness' Performance Art --tma





The European Commission’s chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, said in the aftermath of the terror attack in Berlin that the best way to fight terror is with “openness“, emphasizing that the old continent must continue to receive migrants. It “would be wrong to put all refugees under suspicion,” he said and added that “hate and terror have no religion, no sex, no country of origin.” The President of the European Commission warned that the “rhetoric of exclusion” gives strength to terrorists. “Terror only takes us if we allow it”, he said of the Berlin attack at a Christmas market, in which 12 people died and many more were injured.
Mr. Juncker also declared that “the basic values for which the European Union stands remain unchanged ”and insisted that Europe “must continue to offer refuge to people who flee from war zones and from terror.” Addressing the apparent sweep at populists across Europe, Mr. Juncker stressed that “anyone who pounces on the rhetoric of exclusion is helping the extremists’ way of thinking, which strengthens their spiral of hate.” He also said that the populists’ idea to restrict migration from the Middle and Africa “neither creates solutions nor helps the victims and their relatives.” ...