By Zhao Minghao    Source: Global Times    Published: 2015-11-1

Leaders from some EU and Balkan countries met for an emergency summit in Brussels recently to discuss the increasingly severe refugee crisis. The EU Commission announced that the leaders had agreed to a 17-point plan to solve the issue. German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted the crisis is "one of the greatest litmus tests that Europe has ever faced." It is still uncertain whether Europe will pass this test.

It is estimated that around 1.5 million refugees will flock to Germany, much more than the previous estimation of 800,000.

Violence against refugee shelters in Germany has occurred 500 times this year, twice of the number of last year.

These facts make people believe the refugee crisis in Europe will get worse. In addition, against the background of the Syrian crisis and Ukrainian crisis, the three may impair each other. Amid multiple crises, Europe faces enormous challenges to address them all.

Europe`s response to the refugee crisis has been slow. At the beginning of this year, refugees landed on the European continent in Italy and Greece. But Germany and France didn`t show sympathy to these Southern European countries as they believe the refugees are a far-reaching issue for them.

With the escalation of the Syrian war, the number of refugees is growing. On the one hand, the civil war in Syria has no signs of ending in a short time and those who can afford to pay a few thousand euros to smugglers want to flee the country. On the other hand, people in many African countries south of the Sahara would rather risk their lives to seek better living standards in Europe.

The refugee crisis is generating more frictions within Europe. Some criticized the welcoming gestures of the Merkel administration, arguing that they encouraged more people to flee to Europe via sea and land routes. A few days ago, thousands of protestors clashed with police in the eastern German city of Dresden in riots sparked by the arrival of migrants. Members of Germany`s right-wing and anti-immigrant group Pegida used Nazi rhetoric during their speeches, while ministers from the justice and internal affairs called on the public not to believe in those xenophobic sentiments.

Ordinary Germans worry that the financial support for the refugees comes at the cost of their pension and social welfare. They are also concerned that terrorists and extremists will enter Europe along with refugees and that refugees may foster extreme thoughts due to their sense of loss. It is expected that right-wing parties will ignite public fear by using the refugee issue, which may also help them win support.

Currently, European countries have only reached a feeble consensus. They can hardly coordinate and cooperate on policies. The EU lacks a unified migrant policy and the Dublin Regulation which was reached in the 1990s is not capable of coping with the current refugee crisis.

In terms of securing the EU borders, Frontex, which is always short of money, can only play a negligible supplementary role. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, warned not long ago that the EU has lost the ability to protect its external borders.

Some Europeans have called for building a "Great Wall" to prevent more refugees from coming. They believe their continent is shouldering the mess imposed by its ally - the US. It is Washington that wants to overthrow the Assad regime and weaken the clout of Iran and Russia in the Middle East. However, the Americans` mixed advocacy for democracy with sectarian conflicts has made a mess of things. And the refugee crisis is just a beginning of the test for Europe.  

The author is a visiting fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China.