The current refugee crisis challenges the European Union. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, urged in his recent State of the Union speech: “We need more Europe in our asylum policy. We need more Union in our refugee policy.” European Movement Vice-president Bernd Hüttemann met on Friday 18 September with representatives of organised Polish civil society and spoke about the importance of engaging in joint European actions right now:

Z @huettemann i polskimi NGO nt. pomocy uchodźcom, niemieckich doświadczeń i planów. Więcej: https://t.co/dJ2jI25r6L pic.twitter.com/F82afhLtg0

— Marcin Święcicki (@MarcinSwiecicki) September 18, 2015

The European Movement International calls for European solidarity and shared responsibility. The respect for common European values implicates helping those in need.

.@EMInternational VP @huettemann speaking at #RuchEuropejski event on #refugeecrisis #migrationEU #refugeeswelcome pic.twitter.com/UxaUedty5r

— European Movement (@EMInternational) September 18, 2015

The intense discussions initiated by the European Movement Poland made clear: The fear of “the other(s)” especially of Muslims is still widespread among the Polish population. It is therefore all the more important, that the Polish public sphere continues its shift towards a neutral media reporting.

12,000 #Refugees are fairly easy for Poland. As long as anti-moslem propaganda in media stops #PLinEU https://t.co/uMdZtFEF53

— Bernd Hüttemann (@huettemann) September 18, 2015

by #refugeeswelcome we got a new European public space. Polish public restarts to discuss values/rules in EU #PLinEU https://t.co/gfgwjDyUKs

— Bernd Hüttemann (@huettemann) September 18, 2015

The participants agreed, that the abolishment of the Dublin System and the introduction of an obligatory European quota system in return are essential in order to act in solidarity. The present situation is not to be dealt with nationally, but calls for joint actions. Following Junkcer, Hüttemann stressed: “Europe has to act big on big things and small on small things!”

.@EMInternational VP @huettemann addresses the need for a fair sharing of responsibility in the #refugeecrisis pic.twitter.com/XciSHDEjms

— European Movement (@EMInternational) September 18, 2015

Bernd Hüttemann is also Co-Chair of the European Movement Committee on More Democracy, Citizens’ Rights and Freedom.