Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) announced on Friday that at next week’s meeting of EU interior ministers, he will join his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Nouris Nouris in a massive push “for the EU to take effective action in the fight against people smuggling and illegal migration . implement consistent border surveillance”. Like Austria, Cyprus suffers enormously from illegal migration.
Ahead of the meeting of EU interior ministers in Stockholm next week, Karner and Nouris agreed at a meeting on Friday in Vienna. The two interior ministers agreed that asylum procedures should in future be carried out in third countries.
Reorganization of the asylum system required
After the meeting with Karner, the Cypriot interior minister announced in an interview with the “Presse” that he would take an initiative to reorganize the asylum system at the meeting of EU interior ministers in Stockholm. Karner has promised him support for this. “We will come together with the proposal: instead of spending billions of euros to house all migrants, we should invest in third countries so that these people stay there,” said Nouris.
In return, according to Nouris, a certain number of immigrant tickets should be agreed with the third countries. In return, those seeking protection outside Europe should be given the chance to seek asylum at Red Cross or UN hotspots or in embassies rather than risking their lives on sea trips, according to the proposal of the Cypriot interior minister. Affairs.
disagreement about implementation
On this point, however, opinions apparently differed. The Ministry of the Interior did not want to speak of a joint proposal. Cyprus supports Austria’s proposal to carry out asylum procedures in third countries, it said. However, Austria is against asylum procedures in embassies or Red Cross or UNHCR hotspots. Rather, the Ministry of the Interior referred to the Danish or British model. The two countries want to fly asylum seekers to third countries, where they have to wait for their applications to be processed in Denmark and Great Britain respectively.
When it came to the redistribution of refugees within the EU, about which opinions also differed, Nouris was understanding. He spoke to Karner about taking in refugees from Cyprus, but “I realize I can’t push for this given the large secondary migration flows in Austria,” he said. He also criticized Austria’s Schengen veto against Bulgaria and Romania. “It was not a good day for Europe. I hope that the decision will be reviewed during the Swedish EU presidency,” said Nouris.
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.
