“No ban on thinking” – Schallenberg: Asylum quotas are the wrong approach

“We are number two per capita in Europe in terms of the number of asylum applications,” says Schallenberg. Austria currently has a number of migrants again that is higher than ever before and also higher than all numbers in neighboring countries. At the same time, Austria is surrounded by Schengen and EU countries. “This shows that the system as such does not work. Therefore there can be no prohibition against thinking. You have to talk about everything.”

Schallenberg regretted that the discussion on migration in the EU was repeatedly politicized and emotional. With regard to the recent Italo-French dispute, one has the feeling of “groundhog salutes”. The discussions of 2015 and 2016 would repeat themselves.

“a matter of political will”
The migration package proposed by the European Commission to reform the European asylum system actually contains good elements. An agreement could be reached based on a system of “solidarity and responsibility,” Schallenberg said. “It’s just a matter of political will, and some member states see no need to compromise here.”

Schallenberg sees the cause of the migration crisis in the EU in various interests. There are states that want to allow arriving migrants to pass through as quickly as possible. Quotas and distribution are the wrong approach. Moreover, one should now come to the conclusion that migrants from Austria should then be accepted. “As long as we are stuck in a perpetual circle between quotas and non-quotas, we will not get any further,” the foreign minister said.