Austria extends border controls with Slovakia until February 5. This was announced by the Ministry of the Interior on Thursday. This is in line with the Czech Republic, which has also expanded controls, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) stressed.
“The extension of selective border controls in accordance with the Czech Republic to Slovakia is necessary to actively limit the scope of action of the smuggling mafia and to prevent a shift in smuggling routes,” Karner explains.
Bixsher 23 smugglers arrested
According to the ministry, 23 people smugglers operating from the country into Austria have been arrested since border controls with Slovakia began in late September 2022.
Interior ministers of EU countries discuss the repatriation of migrants
At a meeting in Stockholm on Thursday, EU interior ministers – including Karner – discussed how more rejected asylum seekers could be returned to their home countries. The Swedish EU Council presidency focuses mainly on cooperation with countries outside the EU. “I think we just need more agreements with the countries of origin, that affects the Member States themselves, but especially the EU Commission, which can put much more pressure on it,” Karner emphasized in the run-up to the meeting for the Ö1 ” Morning Journal”. To date, 22 bilateral repatriation agreements have been concluded with third countries in Austria.
Karner advocates asylum procedures in safe third countries
Karner recently addressed five demands to the European Commission, including a “rejection directive” that would make individual assessments no longer necessary. Johansson, on the other hand, emphasized: “If someone applies for asylum, he has the right to a procedure.” Karner also advocated for asylum procedures in safe third countries – as Denmark has already brought into play. “Austria, for example, has spoken in favor of this idea, but cannot implement it because of a different legal system” and hopes for a European solution, Danish Migration Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek said before the meeting. Denmark is also demanding an EU-wide settlement and has temporarily halted negotiations with Rwanda about an asylum seekers centre.
Source: Krone
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