Meeting in Belgrade – Austria supports Serbia in border surveillance

Gray clouds hang over Belgrade on Wednesday at the meeting between Nehammer, Vučić and Orbán. A declaration of intent between the countries about increased border security should also reduce the number of asylum applications in Austria. Is it all just gray theory? For Nehammer, “the European Union’s asylum system has failed”. Individual states are forced to find new forms of partnership,” he stressed. On the other hand, he applauds Serbia’s efforts to abolish visa-free entry. Refugees from India and Tunisia arriving by plane are second only to Afghans and Syrians are the largest group of asylum seekers: in 2022 there were about 15,000 asylum applications from Indians and 11,400 from Tunisia.

Separation of “asylum” and “migration”
The words that Nehammer, Orbán and Vučić find are clear. Not only the four meter high and 175 meter long border fence on the border between Serbia and Hungary is reminiscent of a fortress Europe. Nehammer clearly rejected “asylum tourism” and Orbán said: “We must make it clear that our borders must not be crossed.” Nehammer explained that “asylum à la carte” currently prevails, but protection in the next possible country should be the goal. In addition, the separation of ‘asylum’ and ‘migration’ is important to him, because they are intertwined. According to the Chancellor, migration occurs when people leave the country for economic reasons.

“No ban on discussion”
Nehammer calls for strong external border controls, a new mandate from Frontex, asylum procedures directly at the border and a repatriation agreement with the countries involved. To this end, packages of measures must be put together “so that people in their country of origin have a life perspective”. The current discussion about amending the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) does not go far enough for Nehammer, one needs to look at the asylum issue more broadly: “There are no prohibitions on discussion, neither in the Geneva Refugee Convention nor in the European Convention on Human Rights. We need to change legal matters to restore the state’s ability to act,” the ÖVP leader said of the current discussion.

He was immediately criticized by the opposition for this. SPÖ federal manager Christian Deutsch, for example, said so Nehammer now that the EU’s external border control wants to “discuss” at the European level, the “next empty promise” is. Nehammer I want to distract from my own failure – the NEOS are of the same opinion.

In any case, human rights are indivisible for the SPÖ. Andreas Schieder, head of the SPÖ-EU delegation, described the ÖVP’s statements as “extremely dangerous”. Whoever questions the ECHR is also questioning Austria’s constitution and EU treaties and accepting the demands of the extreme right, he explained. A revision of the European Convention on Human Rights should also be submitted to the Council of Europe. A timely implementation of these considerations is therefore not considered realistic.

signal to the countries of origin
In particular, Austria is sending 70 police officers to the Serbia-Hungary border, another 100 to the Serbia-North Macedonia border, as well as technical equipment. For Nehammer, the cooperation with Serbia and Hungary is mainly a strong signal to the countries of origin of the refugees.

Serbia also wants to make planes available to deport refugees – Austria is also happy to provide support in this. The exact amount of aid pledged to Serbia cannot yet be quantified.