Interior Minister Gerhard Karner maintains his veto threat over the expansion of the Schengen area to include Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. At the same time, the ÖVP minister did not want to see a contradiction in the fact that Chancellor Karl Nehammer had praised Croatia’s border security before the Council of Ministers on Wednesday the day before and did not see it as a problem. Karner assured journalists that he and Nehammer shared a common goal.
The European Commission’s proposal, which includes all three countries, came “as a surprise attack”. This proposal with all three countries is “out of the question”, Karner stressed. Regarding the smuggling routes, Karner indicated that Croatia was not the problem – but despite several attempts, the minister did not give a clear answer to the question of a veto against Croatia: “We are negotiating very intensively at the moment”, he just said. , now we have to put him in the Council of Ministershe apologized.
Karner calls for EU refoulement directive
The Minister of the Interior will travel to Prague on Wednesday evening. There he wants to make two demands of his EU counterparts: the Commission must finance support for border control in affected countries. The ÖVP politician also envisages a kind of ‘rejection policy’. Therefore, the Commission should investigate how it is legally possible to save on individual examinations for those “who have practically no chance of asylum”. On the other hand, it was also possible for the Ukrainians to get the displaced persons directive into force within days, Karner reminded them.
In any case, the Interior Minister assured that he “wants to continue with all consistency the fight against illegal migration and the smuggling mafia”. Just a few days ago, he got a picture for himself on the Burgenland-Hungarian border. In this year alone, there were 100,000 seizures, 75,000 of which were not previously registered. Since Austria is a landlocked country, “something is wrong there,” Karner repeated his criticism. The system needs to be changed.
More money for police officers abroad
There should be more money for Austrian police officers who help guard the EU’s external borders. Your allowances will be increased on 1 December, the head of the department announced. The increase is 1100 euros gross, which is about 600 euros net.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
