Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) and his Slovakian counterpart Rastislav Káčer fully agreed on Friday in Vienna on continuing support for Ukraine. “We have to be patient for the sanctions against Russia to work,” Schallenberg said. Káčer assured that there would be no peace solution without Kiev’s consent. Schallenberg defended the recently expanded border controls between Austria and Slovakia.
“We would have liked to have chosen a different approach here”, but this was not possible due to the sharp increase in the number of migrants, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Now it is important to expand cooperation with all states on the Balkan route in order to improve controls there. “In any case, our measures are proportional. The goal is to keep border traffic flowing and only fish out the people smugglers,” Schallenberg said.
‘Slovakia is not the destination of migrants’
“As Slovaks, we are strong supporters of Europe and the Schengen system is part of that,” Káčer called for the measures to be lifted quickly and for a return to free border traffic, especially with regard to the numerous commuters. Slovakia is in any case not the destination of these migrants, according to the Slovak foreign minister.
So it is clear “that the only solution is better protection of the Schengen external borders”, but he agreed with Schallenberg on this point. According to the two ministers, the EU integration of the Western Balkan states is also an important step in this regard.
“Neighborhood Affairs”
“If you can take something positive from the many crises, it is that close together,” says Schallenberg, who was very satisfied with the bilateral relations. Traditionally, there has been disagreement about nuclear energy.
Horror after murder for LGBTQ bar
Schallenberg also expressed his condolences to the families of the men who were shot and killed in front of a gay bar in Bratislava on Wednesday night. Káčer explained that this was the first such hate crime in Slovakia and that it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. All people are asked to oppose it.
Austria and Slovakia: expanding cooperation
Both ministers want to expand cooperation between the two countries. He was “very enthusiastic” about the Slavkov format, an informal collaboration between Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, according to Káčer. Due to the different attitudes, the Visegrad format (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland) has become more difficult, according to the Slovak foreign minister. But Slovakia has many allies in Europe, “we don’t need to use this format, it’s not a tragedy”.
Source: Krone
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