The dispute between Bavaria and Austria over the treatment of refugees at the border has reached a new height. Because now the coalition partner of the ruling CSU is adding fuel to the fire and threatening Vienna.
The Free Voters (FW), who together with the CSU form the Bavarian state government, are now calling for the immediate rejection of refugees at the German borders, without further procedures.
Free voters refer to the German constitution
German citizens have the right to the implementation of Article 16a of the German Basic Law, according to which asylum seekers coming to Germany via the EU and safe third countries have no right to asylum, said Bavarian FW parliamentary group leader Florian Streibl.
Even legal action is being considered
This could lead to new conflicts in the now heated asylum dispute between Bavaria and Austria. Because: The FW even wants to convince coalition partner CSU to file a joint lawsuit at the German Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
Criticism of lengthy asylum procedures
According to their ideas, constitutional law should be implemented by the German federal government in such a way that people who want to enter Germany from Austria, for example, can be sent back by the police immediately and without further steps. If they say the word “asylum” so far, they are taken to an “anchor center” where the often lengthy German asylum procedure begins.
Attacks prompt political reconsideration in Germany
Such demands, based on the so-called Dublin Convention, have become increasingly loud in Germany in recent weeks in the wake of the attacks. The German federal government has ordered additional border controls and is also considering a comprehensive rejection of migrants at the borders.
Karner defies criticism from Bavaria
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) then stressed that Austria would not accept people who had been rejected by Germany. “There is no room for manoeuvre,” Karner stressed.
He told krone.at on Friday that he had sharpened his tone towards his neighbour: “The Ministry of the Interior has once again instructed the relevant state police departments not to accept any refusals of entry from the German authorities that violate Union law, and to report immediately on any perception.”
CSU partner calls for “robustness” towards neighbouring countries
However, FW Germany Chairman and Bavarian Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger, according to his own statement, expects the German federal government to have the same level of “robustness” as its neighbouring countries have shown so far by “wave[ing]through” asylum seekers. If illegal migrants were caught at the German border or near it, they would have to be “picked up and repatriated immediately”.
Scholz wants to inform EU partners about German border plans
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to discuss asylum policy with various European leaders in the coming days. Scholz will “soon” speak individually with the heads of state and government of neighboring European states to explain Germany’s plans, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said on Friday.
“There was irritation”
“There were irritations,” admitted a spokesman for the German Interior Ministry. The ministry also announced that on September 17, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPÖ) had invited government representatives from Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Austria, Poland, Slovenia and Great Britain, as well as the countries of the Western Balkans, as part of the “Berlin Process.”
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.
