BUDAPEST: Germany wants countries accepting larger number of refugees to be rewarded with more European Union regional aid. The Financial Times cited a German position paper dated 25 January and circulated to governments at the end of last month as calling for EU regional aid to be “linked to compliance with fundamental rule-of-law principles”, saying “EU values are the foundation for cohesion of the Union”.
At an EU summit last Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel touted the idea of tying generous European regional-development aid for nations such as Poland to their willingness to help house migrants from the Middle East and Africa.
A day after she told German Parliament that “solidarity isn’t a one-way street,” Merkel told reporters after the meeting that the linkage between development aid and assistance for asylum seekers doesn’t need to be punitive. Additional funds could simply be allocated to countries with greater financial obligations for refugees.
