Updated on 01/25/2023 at 2:40 pm
- Karl Nehammer asked the EU to fund fences on the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
- He had previously barred Bulgaria and Romania from joining Schengen.
- Opposition and EU lawmakers accuse Nehammer of populism.
Three weeks before the EU migration summit, Karl Nehammer spoke in favor of more funding for border fences at the EU’s external border in Bulgaria. Austria’s Federal Chancellor had previously vetoed EU members Bulgaria and Romania from joining Schengen. Nehammer cited irregular migration through these countries into the EU as the reason.
In a meeting with Bulgarian head of state Rumen Radew, Nehammer mentioned financial help for the Bulgarian-Turkish border fence. For this he demanded two billion euros from the EU.
Bulgarian President Radev said Bulgaria needed financial assistance to improve security at the EU’s external border with Turkey. “We are facing a powerful and well-organized migrant smuggling network,” said Radew, who emphasized that migratory pressure from Turkey has increased.
Bulgarian border already heavily secured
Bulgaria has protected the EU’s external border with Turkey since 2017 with a 234-kilometer metal fence with barbed wire and thermal imaging cameras. Border security is supported by the Bulgarian military and the European border and coastguard agency Frontex.
However, there are always illegal border crossings. According to Gerald Tatzgern of Austria’s Federal Criminal Police Office, human smugglers constantly exploit weaknesses in the existing border fence. Therefore, expanding the border fence is of crucial importance to combating smuggling, Tatzgern said.
Green MEP Erik Marquardt thinks this is the wrong solution: “Border fences don’t solve any problem,” Marquardt said in an interview with our editorial team on Tuesday. Rather, they are a “populist symbol that does not contribute to fewer people fleeing”.
Marquardt fears “alliance against asylum law”
The dispute shows the different currents in the EU on this topic. In essence, it is about whether the right to asylum, enshrined in the Geneva Convention on Refugees, applies: ‘If someone is on the other side of the fence and wants to apply for asylum, that person should be given the opportunity to apply for asylum’ , said Marquardt.
He sees growing forces in the EU who want to overrule this fundamental right and include the Austrian government of Chancellor Nehammer: “The governments of Austria, Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Greece and Italy currently want a sort of alliance with the aim of abolishing the right to asylum,” says Marquardt.
There are repeated reports of illegal resistance from the external borders in Greece, Croatia and Bulgaria. Migrants who have already crossed the border and want to apply for asylum are brought out of the EU illegally and with the use of force. Bulgarian Vice President Iliana Yotova appears to support this practice. In an interview with state radio on Monday, she said that irregular border crossings are hardly refugees within the meaning of the Geneva Convention. Most of the migrants came from Afghanistan and Syria, i.e. from countries where the right of asylum is not unlikely.
Dispute over Schengen unresolved
Differences between Austria and Bulgaria over Schengen faded in the face of both countries’ demands for an EU-funded border fence. Admission to the Schengen area is an important factor for Bulgaria – both for the population, who could then travel more freely, and for the Bulgarian economy.
Bulgarian President Radew emphasized that, due to economic ties, Austria’s economy is also suffering from non-participation in the Schengen area. Austria is also a “loser” in this respect as the biggest investor in Bulgaria, says Radew.
Nehammer also faced opposition from his own political camp. CDU MEP Dennis Radtke confirmed to our editorial team on Tuesday the EU’s willingness to include Bulgaria in the Schengen area: “Bulgaria and Romania fulfill the requirements for the Schengen area.”
With the blockade of Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen area, Austria is relatively isolated internationally. Liberal NEOS MEP Claudia Gamon called Nehammer’s demand “to show politics” in view of Austria’s upcoming state elections. She recommended that the chancellor use the visit to “remedy his mistake and lift the veto against Schengen membership – and prefer to campaign for a common European asylum system rather than continue banging on any fence”.
Used fonts:
- dpa
- dad
- Conversation with Erik Marquardt
- Conversation with Dennis Radtke