Refugees are currently piling up on the Italian Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. Now Chancellor Karl Nehammer is talking about border controls.
The main objective of the Schengen Agreement is to avoid border controls in order to ensure the smoothest possible movement of goods and people. As a result of the wave of refugees in 2015/2016, some states reintroduced controls at certain border crossings. Taking into account the worsening of the situation in Lampedusa, the Austrian Chancellor now also promises new border controls.
More on this: “Tragic and dramatic” – Lampedusa on the brink of collapse
In an interview with “Kleine Zeitung” he answers the question “Will we soon control the border with Italy after Lampedusa declared a state of emergency?” with “Yes”. The City Council of the southern Italian island declared a state of emergency on Wednesday night due to the overwhelming crowd. Nehammer stated in the interview that the Austrian authorities, in response to this, increased covert searches in the border area with Italy.
“We are following this. It is about the fight against smugglers’ routes (…)”, said the ÖVP party leader. He has already spoken on the phone with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni about this.
Alexander Hecht (ORF) about the state of emergency in Lampedusa and how one can imagine the situation there:
Schengen veto remains
At the beginning of the year, the decision by Austrian EU representatives to deny Romania and Bulgaria access to the borderless EU Schengen area was polarizing. Nine months later, the Chancellor maintains the veto – despite all the criticism and discontent, especially from the affected countries. “An expansion can only be implemented when the protection of the external borders works. This is not the right time,” she emphasized to the “Kleine Zeitung”.
Read more: “This is theater”: EU Juncker mocks Chancellor Nehammer
Romania recently threatened to sue the republic. However, European law expert Walter Obwexer from the University of Innsbruck believes that any legal action has little chance of success. The War of Roses between Romania and Austria is coming to a head: Romanian MEPs recently called on Brussels to investigate possible Austrian violations of sanctions on Russia. They did not hide that this demand was an express response to Austria’s veto.
Navigation account red hour17.09.2023, 8:30 pm | Act: September 17, 2023, 8:30 pm