Germany to examine processing asylum claims outside EU

BERLIN

Germany will take further measures to curb irregular migration and examine possible options for processing asylum claims outside the European Union, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin after meeting with the premiers of Germany’s federal states, Scholz said they will examine expert reports in the coming months to determine whether it is possible to conclude third-country asylum deals.

“We have discussed the first evaluation reports. We will now proceed carefully. I think we should avoid speculating at this stage on what is possible and what is not possible. I think it is too early for that,” he told reporters, adding that discussions in other countries have shown that this won’t be an easy process.

Scholz said the Italy-Albania agreement could not be a model for Berlin, as Italy’s situation was completely different from Germany, and most of the irregular migrants were arriving in Italy by sea. He said the UK-Rwanda deal was not an appropriate model either, as Germany must meet the requirements of EU law while processing asylum applications.

“In today’s meeting, there was not an expectation to say how we are finally going to do it, but it was rather about carefully examining the options, weighing up together what is possible and what is not, and we have agreed that we will meet again in December,” Scholz said.