The asylum issue will also play a role at the upcoming EU summit in Brussels. Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) has agreed this with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the ‘Krone’ heard about it beforehand. Austria wants to put forward five demands that need to be implemented urgently at EU level.
The demands of the Austrian federal government:
- The EU Commission must pay for police operations abroad to fight illegal migration. In addition, it should provide more support to external border countries in terms of border protection, in particular with financial resources for future infrastructure projects (e.g. building a fence on the Bulgarian-Turkish border).
- The EU Commission is going to have a “refoulement directive” drawn up – analogous to the expelles directive (faster protection status or access to the labor market, note).
- Asylum procedures in safe third countries should be made possible – a model that Denmark and the UK, for example, are pursuing.
- It should become easier to withdraw the protection status of offenders.
- The European Commission will set up and fund a pilot project for fast-track asylum procedures at the EU’s external borders.
The federal government has already taken “a number of other measures to ensure that the asylum brake works and the asylum pressure on Austria decreases”, the “Krone” emphasized in the run-up to the EU summit. Once again, cooperation with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is mentioned: the visa-free regime for Tunisia has ended and visa-free access from India will also be discontinued at the end of the year.
Operation Fox is coming
A joint police operation with Hungary has also been announced, “Operation Fox”. It is said that illegal migrants should not come to Austria in the first place.
The Schengen veto is causing a stir
The sensational veto against the Schengen accession of Romania and Bulgaria also aims to increase pressure on the EU Commission to take stronger action against illegal migration. In Romania in particular, a real storm is now raging against the blockade of Austria, and there is already strong criticism in various media, the Romanian Interior Minister Lucian Bode (Liberal Party / PNL) openly accuses his Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) of breaking his word.
sanctions against Hungary
Actually, the EU summit on Thursday is probably all about Hungary or it is mainly about sanctions against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. As reported, member states had agreed to partially freeze aid funds due to the lack of rule of law in Hungary. European Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) welcomed the agreement. The rule of law requires “clarity” on the one hand and “fairness” on the other, Edstadler said before a meeting with her EU colleagues in Brussels on Tuesday.
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.
