The quota idea is a good one, but there are two problems with it. The first is clear: A quota system would also require all European countries to be prepared to take refugees. And secondly: What happens when the quota has been filled? Would we then simply tell those who are threatened, sorry but we have to send you back?
Martin SchulzThe construction of social housing and the attempt to support families seeking to buy their own homes are all projects from the 1960s and '70s. It all sounds old-fashioned, but it is actually completely modern.
Martin SchulzMy worry is that Donald Trump may inspire copycats, also in Europe. That's why I hope Hillary Clinton wins.
Martin SchulzRefugees cost us money too when they come to us. If we improve their living conditions in Turkey, we create an incentive for them to stay there and not to place their fates in the hands of smugglers.
Martin SchulzWe are seeing now that without the contribution of the Social Democrats, Germany cannot be governed. We are a proud and self-confident party. We should now act based on that pride, and not out of fear.
Martin SchulzWe're at a historical juncture: A growing number of people are declaring what has been achieved over the past decades in Europe to be wrong. They want to return to the nation-state. Sometimes there is even a blood and soil rhetoric that for me is starkly reminiscent of the interwar years of the past century, whose demons we are still all too familiar with.
Martin Schulz