MOSCOW, September 2. /TASS/. The European Union nations are attempting to seal off their territory from a mass influx of Afghan refugees and to redirect this flow into the countries around Afghanistan, Russia’s Permanent Representative at the EU Vladimir Chizhov said in a televised interview with Rossiya-24 news channel on Wednesday.
"Today we can see an attempt of the European Union to solve two-pronged problems. On the one hand, to somehow prevent a humanitarian catastrophe inside Afghanistan, and on the other hand, to protect own territory from a mass and, in fact, uncontrolled influx of refugees. [They] are trying to do their utmost so that this flow will not go to the European Union, but, say, to the countries around Afghanistan, to the countries of the region," he said.
"Here, as you understand, a problem arises for us as well, because the countries neighboring Afghanistan are, among others, the countries of Central Asia, our allies and partners," Chizhov added.
At an emergency meeting of the EU Council in Brussels on August 31, the European Union justice and home affairs ministers said that the EU nations would "act jointly to prevent the recurrence of uncontrolled large-scale illegal migration movements" of 2015-2016, when over a million of illegal migrants flocked to the EU. The ministers said that the EU intends to prevent mass migration from Afghanistan to Europe. To this end, Brussels pledged support to Afghanistan’s neighbors that will host the refugees. Apart from that, the EU remains "determined to effectively protect the EU external borders", while Afghan asylum seekers’ applications will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
The EU justice and home affairs ministers also offered to launch "targeted information campaigns" in order "to combat the narratives used by smugglers, including in the on-line environment, which encourage people to embark on dangerous and illegal journeys towards Europe.".