The EU migration pact consists of more than 900 pages. In two years we will see what the implementation looks like. Migration researcher Judith Kohlenberger fears that some things will never be implemented. There are many concerns, especially in view of the upcoming Hungarian presidency of the EU Council.
The country has already announced that it does not want to accept refugees, but also does not want to make compensation payments, which would then be mandatory. The remaining Member States have not yet managed to reach an agreement on sanctions. “You do not want to further endanger this already crumbling solidarity, this crumbling cohesion in the Union. But that is of course a problem, because as I said: what use are the nicest and best rules on paper if they are in fact dead laws and are never implemented at all?
Kohlenberger is calling on the federal government to intervene
Not only is the distribution of refugees within the EU a problem, there is also a major imbalance in Austria. In the krone.tv lecture, Kohlenberger argues that the Minister of the Interior should have the right to intervene to distribute asylum seekers fairly among the states. Currently, little use is made of a quota system and Vienna faces major challenges in the field of family reunification. „The vast majority of states undermine these rules and nothing happens to them. And I think that is an unsustainable situation, especially in the long term.”
Unequal distribution
The so-called right to intervene already existed in 2015, but has now expired. If a federal state does not meet its housing quota, the federal government has the right to distribute the refugees. “It would make sense if the federal government could also take action and say to a specific federal state: ‘You have grossly underspent your quota, you are at 20 percent, please try to aim for 100 percent.’ If not, we will send refugees there.” In the worst case, this could mean setting up tents in the states. This is of course based on domestic political questions: “There are quite a few governors of the states who belong to the ÖVP and the Minister of the Interior is traditionally also a member of the ÖVP. That makes it more difficult to enforce.”
You can see the entire interview with Judith Kohlenberger in the interview above!
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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.
