The Czech Republic and Austria maintain the EU’s asylum commitment reached in June, despite opposition from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. “We know there is a lot to do,” said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) on Friday morning at a joint press conference with his Czech counterpart Vít Rakušan in Vienna. But the pact is “indispensable” and “absolutely necessary”. Rakušan also agreed.
If there were no asylum pact, each country would try to resolve the problem individually. This does not contribute to security in the EU. Rakušan also showed little understanding for Orban’s formulation that Hungary was being “legally raped”. “Making concessions is something that should be the basis of politics.” In the area of migration, “ideologies are not the decisive factor, but geography”, emphasized the Czech Interior Minister in perfect German.
EU states agreed to the package in June. The EU’s asylum commitment provides, among other things, for much harsher treatment of people coming from countries considered relatively “safe”. EU countries that do not want to accept refugees should be forced to make compensation payments. Poland and Hungary rejected the package. There will be a referendum on this in Poland. Once EU countries have reached an agreement, negotiations begin with the EU Parliament, which also has to agree.
On Wednesday, states reached agreement on so-called crisis regulations, which are considered the final component of nursing home reform. The crisis regulation foresees significantly stricter measures if migrants threaten to “overwhelm the asylum system”. This may extend the period during which people can be held in prison-like conditions. Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia abstained from voting.
Regarding crisis regulation, Karner said on Friday that he still sees potential for improvement at this point. It is necessary to improve the asylum system “step by step”. Because the number of asylum seekers is increasing across the EU – unlike in Austria – and the system is “inhumane”. This year, 2,500 migrants have already drowned in the Mediterranean, Karner emphasized.
The Czech Republic and Austria intend to work together towards stronger cooperation with safe third countries. Karner spoke of the “Rwanda model” based on the example of Britain and Denmark, which Prague and Vienna found useful. Britain wants to send migrants to Rwanda, among other places, regardless of their origin. However, an agreement already concluded with the East African country is suspended due to legal dispute.
Karner and Rakušan also addressed the border controls with Slovakia that have been in place since Wednesday. Both ministers emphasized that the measure was initially introduced for ten days. There will then be “close coordination” and numbers will be used to decide whether to extend it. Rakušan admitted that he “didn’t like” the border controls with Slovakia. “But we had to react when our colleagues in Poland” imposed border controls.
Due to the increase in the number of migrants, Germany introduced border controls with the Czech Republic and Poland at the end of September. The Czech Republic, Poland and Austria announced on Tuesday that they would control their borders with Slovakia from Wednesday. As of Thursday, Slovakia continued with border controls with Hungary. The number of people arriving in Slovakia, mainly through Hungary, has increased eleven times this year. As many people came in September alone as in the whole of 2022.
Karner and Rakušan also spoke about refugees from Ukraine. According to Karner, 65 thousand Ukrainians currently live in Austria, 43 thousand of whom receive primary care. The Czech Republic welcomed more than 360 thousand Ukrainians, as Rakušan emphasized. This corresponds to five percent of the population. The Czech Republic is “the most affected country” per capita.
Both interior ministers also praised police cooperation. Karner highlighted the police cooperation center in Drasenhofen as a “real showcase project”. Rakušan said the police cooperation agreement was the best the Czech Republic has ever concluded.