Of . – 12.16.2022 08:13 (act. 12.16.2022 08:14)
Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) on Thursday announced a special summit on migration in February. ©Portal/Johanna Geron
After the end of the EU summit on Thursday, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) announced a special summit on migration in February.
On Thursday, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) emphasized after the end of the EU summit that Austria, with the support of the Netherlands, had managed to create a common awareness of the problem of migration. “Now we put this issue back at the heart of the European debate.” There should be a special summit on February 9, the chancellor said. An accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen is not realistic so far.
Chancellor Nehammer announces special summit on migration
The background is also that the Netherlands has asked the EU Commission to present a report on the rule of law in Bulgaria, which is not expected until June. Therefore, neither country will participate in the borderless Schengen area before the summer.
Nehammer: First you need to check the inner borders
The problem is that if you move the outer borders, you have to really control the inner borders first, Nehammer said. “Currently this is not the case. In Austria we have more than 75,000 people who have not been registered anywhere even though they have passed through an EU country,” explained Nehammer. There is now a need to research the causes of why Austria is so affected and how the problem can be resolved.
Discussion on migration was “very cool”
However, the discussion on migration was “very orderly”, underlined the chancellor. This is how Romania and Bulgaria expressed the hope that 2023 will be the year of solution. In any case, it was important to him that a solution could only be found in conjunction with the two states. Now it remains to be seen which measures will actually be implemented.
Time and again possibilities to strengthen border protection
There are always opportunities to strengthen border protection, which Bulgaria also requires. “But it is not just a fence itself, it is much more important to monitor the border, the technical possibilities, the personnel to do it and also the possibilities to act against organized crime and human traffickers”, said the chancellor .