ECFR View from the Capitals. Responding to the refugee crisis

Two days of whirlwind diplomacy in response to a fast expanding refugee crisis in September 2015 have seen mandatory quotas for the settlement of refugees imposed through qualified majority voting. We ask experts in key European capitals how this new reality will develop. Will member states be able to absorb these migrants? Where does public opinion on the integration of refugees stand? And what hope is there of renewed, long-term action to take on the foreign policy implications of resolving the refugee crisis?

+ View from Berlin: Pushing for robustness by Josef Janning
Germany prioritises solidarity on refugees - and isn't willing to wait for others to agree

+ View from London: Peripheral but wary by Susi Dennison
The UK used its opt-out on refugee quotas, but crisis may have far-reaching consequences for its future

+ View from Madrid: Welcoming, but worries over capacity by José Ignacio Torreblanca
Questions over Spain's ability to absorb migrants grow after Spanish volte-face on quotas

+ View from Paris: Clarity, but little boldness by Manuel Lafont Rapnouil
France tows the German line on refugees, but with elections looming seeks to balance openness and firmness

+ View from Rome: No longer just an Italian problem by Silvia Francescon
Work remains on Europeanising the solutions to the refugee crisis

+ View from Sofia: Fragile support for quotas by Vessela Tcherneva
Fragile support for quotas holds in europhile Bulgaria - for now

+ View from Warsaw: Kopacz treads a fine line by Piotr Buras and Marta Makowska
With society deeply divided over refugees, the ruling Civic Platform party is under pressure to defend ‘Polish interests’

• Primary Source

ESO: Information Guide: European Migration Challenges http://www.europeansources.info/record/information-guide-european-migration-challenges/

ESO: Background information: Informal meeting of heads of state or government, Brussels, 23 September 2015 http://www.europeansources.info/record/informal-meeting-of-heads-of-state-or-government-brussels-23-september-2015/

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