Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) has spoken out against a mandatory distribution key for Ukrainians fleeing the war to the European Union. “Clear commitments are needed here, and there are,” Karner said on Monday ahead of a special meeting with his EU colleagues in Brussels on admitting people seeking protection from other EU countries. “But we don’t believe in quotas, it’s about helping people,” he added.
The war in Ukraine is a “very special challenge” and requires the support of European countries, Karner told reporters. Austria has already carried out the first air evacuations of Ukrainians seeking protection from Moldova and has offered Poland to receive refugees. “This is what is needed now,” stressed the interior minister. With regard to refugee registration, he called for “a common European system in the medium term so that these data can be imported”. To date, 35,000 Ukrainian refugees have been registered in Austria.
Distribution of four million people
EU interior ministers are discussing how to deal with Ukraine’s massive influx of refugees. The main focus should be on the distribution of the nearly four million refugees so far among EU countries. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser recently said the goal should be a fixed quota for distribution in Europe. On Monday, Faeser responded, “It’s not about fixed quotas today, it’s about a solidarity distribution system,” she said.
Faeser emphasized that solidarity within EU states had been achieved. We want to build on what we have achieved and not scare other countries. Existing solidarity must not be violated. “That’s why you don’t hold tight to quotas now.” At the same time, she emphasized that refugees must be distributed within the EU. She also reiterated that there should be more EU financial support, especially for Ukraine’s neighboring countries, which are particularly under pressure.
Monday’s meeting was the second crisis meeting of interior ministers since Russia’s war with Ukraine began on February 24. Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrski is said to be temporarily connected to the meeting via video. In early March, EU states decided to offer protection to all Ukrainians quickly and without bureaucracy. However, the large number of refugees poses challenges for the international community. In a recent letter to the EU Commission, Faeser and his Polish counterpart asked for more help in distributing refugees to other EU countries, as well as financial support.
More than two million refugees in Poland
According to the UN refugee agency, more than 3.8 million of the more than 44 million Ukrainians have left the country since the start of the war. More than two million refugees have arrived in Poland alone, 212,000 people seeking protection have been counted in Austria, but four-fifths of them are still traveling to other countries. Around 35,000 “displaced persons”, as they are officially called based on the diction of the EU directive, have been registered in Austria so far.
On Monday it will be about how EU countries that host refugees can be supported financially and materially. The travel of refugees after arriving from one EU country to another must also be coordinated. In addition, support for the small country of Moldova, to which many people have already arrived, as well as controls at the EU’s external borders and security issues.
From “Screeching Alarm Bells” to “Justice” and “Solidarity”
“We now need a fair and supportive distribution of refugees,” demanded the vice-president of the EU Parliament Othmar Karas (ÖVP) on Twitter. “EU member states must learn from the mistakes of the past. This act of solidarity must be the prelude to the EU’s long overdue new common refugee policy.”
The FPÖ warned against introducing a quota system, which could eventually be applied to all migratory movements. “In the event of any fantasies of forced distribution from Brussels … all freedom alarms will sound,” FPÖ security spokesman Hannes Amesbauer said in a broadcast. States must be able to sovereignly decide how resilient their respective systems are to allow migration or provide assistance.
The head of the Austrian Greens’ delegation to the EU Parliament, Monika Vana, spoke out in a broadcast in favor of a mandatory distribution key. “The extremely high number of people fleeing Ukraine shows once again the enormous urgency of a system of admission quotas for refugees based on solidarity and mandatory for everyone, regardless of their origin.” Furthermore, the “pressure on national asylum systems” must be reduced. (apa)