2023-12-11 07:07:31
After the possible relaxation of the Austrian Schengen veto on Romania and Bulgaria, which became known at the weekend, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) now sees Brussels in demand. He gave the EU Commission “clear conditions” that needed to be implemented. Only then would he agree to lifting the borders in air traffic, the so-called “Air Schengen”, explained Karner on Monday in the “Ö1” morning journal. “It’s now the commission’s turn.”
“The point is that we need progress in the area of EU external border protection,” emphasized Karner. Specifically, he is demanding that the Commission triple the number of border police officers. Money for border protection infrastructure must flow from the EU Commission. Technical upgrades are needed, especially on the Bulgarian-Turkish and Romanian-Serbian borders.
Karner also calls for increased border controls at the land borders and the acceptance of asylum seekers by Romania and Bulgaria, especially Afghans and Syrians. Karner justified the demand for permanent land border controls with a “problem with smugglers”. Of just over 50,000 asylum applications in Austria, only just under 150 migrants came through airports, the Interior Minister explained.
Karner is traveling to Slovenia on Monday to discuss the future of Schengen at a meeting with the interior ministers of the so-called “Salzburg Forum”. On December 8th of the previous year, Austria blocked an expansion of the border-free Schengen system to include Romania and Bulgaria, justifying this with the high number of asylum seekers. The Netherlands also opposed Bulgaria joining Schengen. In addition to Austria, Bulgaria and Romania, members of the Salzburg Forum also include Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The Western Balkan states and the Republic of Moldova are also represented.
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