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unhappycamper

(60,364 posts)
Wed Oct 7, 2015, 07:01 AM Oct 2015

Merkel, Hollande to respond to refugee influx

http://www.dw.com/en/merkel-hollande-to-respond-to-refugee-influx/a-18765214

The German and French leaders are set to address the European Parliament to pitch for European unity in face of the humanitarian challenge brought by migrants. Germany's cabinet will convene to discuss Berlin's role.

Merkel, Hollande to respond to refugee influx
07.10.2015

Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Francois Hollande will address the European Parliament on Wednesday to make a fresh appeal for a common strategy to handle this year's surge of asylum seekers in Europe.

"This is a historic visit for historically difficult times," said the president of the parliament, Martin Schulz, a center-left German politician who supports closer bonds between Paris and Berlin. "The EU is facing immense challenges and requires strong commitment from its leaders."

The two leaders hope to channel the sense of destiny contained in the now-famous 1989 address by then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl and President Francois Mitterrand. At the time Germany was still divided and the map was in disarray as the Soviet bloc unraveled.

But the two leaders spoke of the need of a strong European community in the face of the adversity, and the EU's vast expansion 25 years later stands in testament to their vision.
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