01/23/2023 14:23 (act. 01/23/2023 20:40)
Interior Minister Karner was connected to the ZIB2 studio on Sunday. ©Screenshot ORF
“The system is broken” – Interior Minister Karner used this phrase repeatedly in ZIB2’s interview with Martin Thür on Sunday. Karner was unable or unwilling to answer a particular question.
The interior minister was happy to swear in ZIB2 that Europe needed “robust external protection” on technical and legal grounds. The Interior Minister describes the ÖVP’s demand for border fences as “technically sound” and sees the EU as legally responsible.
twitter reviews
Reviews of the Home Minister’s interview were also great on Twitter. Including side lifts in the ÖVP:
The unanswered question
A question from ZIB2 moderator Martin Thür remained unanswered by the Minister of the Interior, despite several attempts with assorted questions. Why not agree to Schengen membership of Romania and Bulgaria, but Croatia, if Schengen does not work in general, as the Minister of the Interior never tired of emphasizing.
Nehammer and Karner in Bulgaria
Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (both ÖVP) arrived in Bulgaria on Monday for a visit to the Bulgarian-Turkish border. Nehammer was received with military honors by President Rumen Radew at Plovdiv airport.
Ahead of the trip, Nehammer called for more EU support in protecting the external border. In particular, this involves EU funds for a solid border fence on the Bulgarian side based on the Greek model. So far, the EU Commission has refused to give money for walls, fences and barbed wire, it just wants to support the infrastructure at the border.
Nehammer keeps the veto
Austria vetoed Bulgaria and Romania’s Schengen membership in December because of illegal migration. Ahead of his visit, Nehammer stressed that Austria’s Schengen veto would remain in effect “until the situation fundamentally changes”.
Austria argues that more than 100,000 migrants were detained in Austria in 2022. According to the Interior Ministry, 40% came from Turkey via Bulgaria, mainly people from Afghanistan, Syria, Morocco, Egypt and Somalia. Bulgarian migration researcher Tihomir Bezlov doubted this and called for a closer look at the number of irregular migrants. The Austrian Ministry of the Interior reacted with a reference to the high number of unreported cases.
beusch on the border
On the Monday after the reception, Nehammer and Karner flew to the border by helicopter along with Bulgarian President Rumen Radew and Bulgarian Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev to get a sense of the situation. According to the program, they are to visit the border police regional coordination center near the town of Elchowo. After the return trip to Sofia, a meeting between the Chancellor and the Bulgarian Prime Minister Galab Donev is also planned. Nehammer had already announced the visit to Bulgaria when Bulgarian President Rumen Radev visited the New Year concert in Vienna.
Nehammer and Karner are accompanied by Gerald Tatzgern, head of anti-smuggling at the Federal Criminal Police Station. Tatzgern explained in advance that the previous border fence, described by Bulgarian authorities as a “technical obstacle”, was mostly 155 kilometers straight and did not pose a serious obstacle for criminal smugglers. Only 80 kilometers were in two rows. Smugglers would consistently exploit weaknesses in the existing border fence. Migration pressure from Turkey to Bulgaria is still very high, so expanding “technical barriers” is of crucial importance to combat smuggling, Tatzgern said.