The chairman of the European People’s Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, expects the number of refugees to increase this winter.

“In view of the ongoing destruction of energy infrastructure in Ukraine by Putin’s regime of terror, we must be prepared for a large number of Ukrainians to come to the EU this winter – and many of them to Germany,” Weber told the “Welt am Sonntag” in reference to the Russian PresidentVladimir Putin. “I’m afraid we’re going to have a dramatic winter escape.”

Germany is not prepared for this situation and is “sleepwalking into a new migration crisis”. With a view to the escape route across the Mediterranean Sea towards Italy, the EPP leader proposed joint patrols by German and Italian officials at the EU’s external borders there. According to Weber, those who have fled without a visa, passport or reason for asylum should be returned immediately.

In Italy, Austria and Germany – If you want to understand the new refugee crisis, you have to know these places