For months, we watched the situation in Idlib deteriorate before our eyes. We have known at least since the summer of last year that new funding pledges and a revision or extension of the EU-Turkey deal were necessary to continue the support of refugees in Turkey. But all the EU did was hit the snooze button and ask for “just five more minutes” on a deal it liked and did not want to tamper with.

Now that Erdogan uses his leverage, partly blackmailing the EU, partly highlighting the plight of refugees in an economically deteriorating Turkey, the EU has reacted with beefed up border protection. Greece then decided to put its asylum procedures on hold for months. And the very moment these measures produce horrible scenes on the news, we hear the soft voice of von der Leyen kindly asking Greece to live up to its legal asylum obligations.