Juncker urges Europe to welcome refugees

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged EU governments on Wednesday to accept a mandatory system to share out a wave of refugees fleeing war and poverty but also promised to improve frontier defenses and deport more illegal migrants.

In his first State of the Union address to the European Parliament, Juncker outlined an emergency plan to distribute 160,000 refugees among the 28 EU member states and promised a permanent asylum mechanism to cope with future crises.

Defending his much-criticized proposal for mandatory burden sharing, he said Europe could not leave Greece, Hungary and Italy, the main receiving countries, to cope with the flood.

He appealed to Europeans to respond to the crisis with humanity, dignity and "historical fairness" and not take fright, saying the vast majority of the 500,000 people who had arrived in Europe this year were fleeing war in Syria and Libya, "the terror of the Islamic State" or "dictatorship in Eritrea".

Europe was a continent where many had been refugees over the centuries and it was rich enough to cope with a challenge far smaller than the one facing Syria's neighbors - Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

"It is Europe today that represents a beacon of hope, a haven of stability in the eyes of women and men in the Middle East and in Africa. That is something to be proud of and not something to fear," the former Luxembourg prime minister said in a marathon 80-minute speech.

"The Europe I want to live in is illustrated by those who want to help," he added, denouncing calls to discriminate among refugees according to their religion.

He was heckled by Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party, who said most of those arriving were economic migrants and the EU should emulate Australia's "stop the boats" policy to halt a flow of "biblical proportions".

Italian lawmaker Gianluca Buonanno of the anti-immigration Northern League donned an Angela Merkel face-mask to interrupt Juncker in an attempt to suggest that the German chancellor was dictating asylum policy to Europe. Berlin has said it expects to receive up to 800,000 asylum seekers this year.

Juncker said the refugee crisis was his top priority, before the economy, Greece's debt woes, Ukraine, climate change and a looming vote on Britain's membership of the bloc.

That list of issues showed the European Union was in a bad state, he said, declaring: "There is not enough Europe in this Union, and there is not enough union in this Union."

He confirmed plans for a common EU list of "safe countries of origins" whose citizens would be subject to fast-track deportations if they breached EU immigration laws.

He also urged EU member states to allow refugees to work from day one while their asylum applications are processed.

OPPOSITION EXPECTED

Juncker's proposals face opposition from several central European governments when EU interior ministers meet on Monday.

Many reject compulsory quotas and some, such as Slovakia, want to take in only a handful of Christian refugees.

But under strong pressure from Germany, France and Italy, the tide appears to be turning towards more European solidarity.

Juncker pledged to improve the management of the bloc's external frontiers, bolster its Frontex border agency and moves to create "European coastguard and border guard systems".

He also proposed a "more effective approach to return" - addressing complaints that too many people not entitled to asylum enter the Union illegally and remain there often despite legal proceedings that conclude they should return home.

Juncker called for efforts to strengthen the EU's common asylum system and a review of the so-called Dublin system, under which people may request asylum only in the state where they first enter the EU, straining resources in frontline countries.