Direct Speech, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Society

He said that the emphasis of the proposed system will be put on the relocation of current refugees in Italy, Greece and Malta to other places in Europe.

This does not solve the root of the problem and does not give answers to many important questions. Even if we accept these quotas, it is not clear which Syrian or Eritrean located in refugee camps in Italy or Greece will be sent to Latvia, and which one to Germany, Zile said.

As soon as a person is granted refugee status in Italy, they frequently go straight to France of Germany. Recently, Germany and France have increased border checks in an attempt to control the situation, thus almost discontinuing their participation in the Schengen Agreement. These are some of the dangerous matters, which the EC has failed to answer in its proposals.

Zile said that according to the proposed quotas, Latvia would have to take in 1.2% of the total number of refugees.

But it is not known why one of the criteria of this plan is connected to migration levels the past four years. Has this whole migration situation become a threat to the German and French people in their own countries? A threat to their national languages? A hindrance to integration? If yes, this criteria must be modified and also applied to Latvia, he said.

He said that Latvia physically cannot take in so many refugees, as its only refugee center does not have sufficient space to accommodate them.

What happens if one of these refugees decides to travel, for example, to Sweden? Will this person be sent back to Latvia? Sweden might then decide to also check every on the border every persons from Latvia who wishes to enter its territory, Zile said, adding that these unclear proposals could lead to fractioning within the EU.