As Europe witnesses border restrictions as a result of the refugee crisis, the Pope has warned Portuguese radio station Rádio Renascença that problems this far are “just the tip of the iceberg”. “The world is at war with itself,” he said, stressing the need for Europe to return to being “a mother Europe”, “not a grandmother”. “If a country has no children, immigrants come in and take their place,” he added, agreeing that migrant flows may not find the work that they need in their chosen countries.
“We have to create work, investments,” he told the station. “These poor people are fleeing war, hunger… and the cause is a bad and unjust socioeconomic system, in everything, in the world”.
As the interview was aired this morning, here in Portugal Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said he did not believe Germany’s imposition of border restrictions with Austria was putting the Schengen agreement over free circulation at risk.
“It is not an easy process,” he said, referring to “the avalanche of refugees that have entered Germany and Austria”.
“Germany has a very open position with regard to taking in refugees, but it is natural that for reasons of safety it may be necessary to temporarily take measures that allow for the identification of people and prepare for them,” he added.
The Pope too told RR: “I recognise that nowadays border safety conditions are not what they once were.
“The truth is that just 400km from Sicily there is an incredibly cruel terrorist group. So there is a danger of infiltration, this is true.”
