Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehhammer said that Austria maintains its veto on the extension of the Schengen zone until it “does not work”, according to the Austrian APA agency, citing Agerpres. At the same time, he asked for “full support of Bulgaria and Romania and concrete measures from the European Commission to strengthen the protection of the external border” of the EU.

“As long as the Schengen zone does not work and, for example, Germany carries out border controls with other Schengen countries such as Austria, like many other European states, we cannot expand this zone. Austria’s veto therefore remains in place until the situation changes dramatically,” Chancellor Karl Nehhammer said, according to a press release cited by APA.

He says Nehammer and Interior Minister Gerhard Karner will travel to the border between Bulgaria and Turkey on Monday.

Austria requests the support of Bulgaria and Romania to strengthen the protection of the external border

Before the visit, Nehammer asked for “the full support of Bulgaria and Romania and, finally, concrete measures from the European Commission to strengthen the protection of the external border.” “Bulgaria should be able to build such reliable border protection as Greece. For this, the necessary funds from the EU budget should be allocated,” the chancellor said.

“We must put even more pressure on the brakes on granting asylum, not only in Austria, but throughout Europe,” pleaded the head of government from Vienna.

He wants to discuss this issue in Bulgaria and with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev during his visit to the Bulgarian-Turkish border.

“Bulgaria needs quick and adequate support to protect the external border with Turkey. The border fence of Greece can serve as an example,” the chancellor also said, according to a press release cited by APA.

The Schengen system does not work

The large number of migrants detained in Austria shows “that the Schengen system is not working” and “as long as this system and the protection of the external borders are not working, there can be no enlargement”, according to Nehammer.

So far, the European Commission refuses to provide funds for walls, fences and barbed wire, wanting only to support border infrastructure. In December, the Commission said that Bulgaria is free to decide what means it will use to protect its borders. Currently, the European agency Frontex is represented in Bulgaria with equipment and 137 employees, APA also notes.

Austria’s chancellor and his interior minister complain that Bulgaria is being left alone to defend its roughly 240km EU external border with Turkey, and point to the fact that videos posted on social media show how easily the current barriers in Bulgarian – the Turkish border.

Nehammer and Karner will arrive in Bulgaria on Sunday evening. On Monday, they will go to the border with Turkey together with President Radev and Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demergiyev. The two Austrian officials also planned a visit to the border police’s regional coordination center near Yehovo, and upon their return to Sofia, a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Galab Donev.

What Vienna will demand at this year’s first JAI meeting / Austria tries to create common front with Cyprus, which wants Romania in Schengen

“Many procedures simply do not work”

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner also announced on Saturday that at a meeting with his European Union counterparts next week, he and his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Nouris “will press for the EU to implement effective measures such as coordinated border protection to combat smuggling and illegal trade”. migration,” the Austrian press writes.

After talks with Carner, the Cypriot Interior Minister announced in an interview with “Die Presse” that next week at the JAI’s informal council he will present an initiative to reorganize the asylum system. Carner assured him of his support in this regard.

• “We will put forward a proposal together: instead of spending billions of euros to house all the migrants, we should invest in third countries so that these people stay there.
• Europe is facing a migration crisis. Many procedures simply do not work. We need to get to the root of the problem.
• Europe should act in third countries, in Africa and Asia, where illegal migrants mainly come from. For three years we have been discussing a new pact on asylum and migration in the EU, and we are clearly blocked,” said the Cypriot interior minister, according to News.ro.

Romania, which waited 11 years to join Schengen, did not join the European free movement zone, although it had the support of 26 EU member states. Austria managed to block a favorable decision in the Council of the CIS, since unanimity is required to join Schengen. It was joined by the Netherlands on the condition that they oppose the accession of Bulgaria, and the vote was cast “together with Romania”.

The first meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council under the presidency of Sweden in the Council of the European Union will take place on January 25-27 and will be informal. The European Council will be held on February 9-10, and the first official meeting of the Council of the South-Eastern Europe is scheduled for March 9-10 in Brussels.

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