The European Council president said in an interview published Wednesday that refugees should be screened for 18 months before being let into Europe, arguing that it is currently "too easy" for them to enter.
Donald Tusk's views put him at loggerheads with German chancellor Angela Merkel, a powerful advocate of a permanent system of sharing refugees among European states.
"Please don't downplay the role of security. If you want to screen migrants and refugees, you need more time than only one minute to fingerprint," Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland, said in an interview with Britain's Guardian and five other European newspapers.
"In international law and also in European law we have this rule of 18 months as the time for screening we need," he said.
Tusk said it was "too easy" for refugees to enter the EU, and questioned whether the majority of refugees arriving in Europe were from Syria.
Eastern European countries in particular have been resistant to accepting mandatory quotas of refugees from frontline countries including Greece and Italy.
Germany has pushed for such an arrangement after it opened its doors to asylum seekers over the summer, and expects to receive as many as one million this year.
In September, EU leaders forced through a one-off controversial deal to relocate 120,000 refugees among member states.
Tusk criticised qualified majority voting on the issue as tantamount to "political coercion".
He added that there were "more countries sceptical towards a permanent and obligatory mechanism. And I can understand why".
The European Council president said in an interview published Wednesday that refugees should be screened for 18 months before being let into Europe, arguing that it is currently “too easy” for them to enter.
Donald Tusk’s views put him at loggerheads with German chancellor Angela Merkel, a powerful advocate of a permanent system of sharing refugees among European states.
“Please don’t downplay the role of security. If you want to screen migrants and refugees, you need more time than only one minute to fingerprint,” Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland, said in an interview with Britain’s Guardian and five other European newspapers.
“In international law and also in European law we have this rule of 18 months as the time for screening we need,” he said.
Tusk said it was “too easy” for refugees to enter the EU, and questioned whether the majority of refugees arriving in Europe were from Syria.
Eastern European countries in particular have been resistant to accepting mandatory quotas of refugees from frontline countries including Greece and Italy.
Germany has pushed for such an arrangement after it opened its doors to asylum seekers over the summer, and expects to receive as many as one million this year.
In September, EU leaders forced through a one-off controversial deal to relocate 120,000 refugees among member states.
Tusk criticised qualified majority voting on the issue as tantamount to “political coercion”.
He added that there were “more countries sceptical towards a permanent and obligatory mechanism. And I can understand why”.
