LONDON — If you won't take them, why should we?
That question has ricocheted across Europe as the Obama administration tries to fulfill its promise to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Though Europeans laud that goal, many countries in the region remain skeptical about taking in former inmates, especially as the United States appears increasingly unwilling to allow any within its borders.
That unwillingness is apparent as the U.S. and the European Union engage in delicate talks over the issue, negotiations that some observers say could produce procedural guidelines on resettling detainees and a joint announcement as early as Monday.
Last week, Martin Pecina, the interior minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the EU presidency, said that the 27-nation bloc might admit "several dozen" former prisoners, with decisions left up to each country. Because of freedom of movement across the EU, governments would share intelligence and coordinate security to ensure that none of the detainees pose a threat.
But comments by German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble illustrate just what a hard sell it is for Washington.
"If none of the U.S. states are ready to take in Guantanamo inmates, then you will have to explain to the European public why the rules for Europe should be different from those in the U.S.," Schaeuble said last week.
Germany, the most populous country in the union, has proved to be one of the most resistant to accepting prisoners from Guantanamo, although it has been one of the most vocal in saying that the facility ought to be shuttered. More than 200 people are still being held at the detention center, which became a symbol for many Europeans of what they perceived as the Bush administration's disregard for human rights and international norms of justice and due process.
German news media reported Friday that the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel had turned down, at least for now, a U.S. request to accept two detainees, identified as a Syrian and a Tunisian.
Information provided by the U.S. about the two men was too scanty for Germany to accede to the request, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported. It said Germany had three tests for admission: the person is not deemed a security threat, he can't be repatriated to his home country or sent to the U.S., and there is a good reason for him to be relocated to Germany.
