Vienna, as before, is determined to continue to block the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen zone, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said at a press conference with Olaf Scholz, Austrian media reported. A year and a half after taking office, the German chancellor made his first official visit to Austria on Friday.

Regarding Austria’s attempt to block the entry of Romania and Germany into the European free movement area, the Austrian chancellor said at a joint press conference with the German chancellor that “now, for the first time, in the European Union more considering the great migration challenges of Bulgaria due to its particularly long border with Turkey”. – write Volksblat and Die Presse.

However, Karl Nehhammer noted that this does not mean that Austria will change its position on blocking Romania and Bulgaria in Schengen.

For his part, Olaf Scholz confirmed Germany’s position on supporting the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen.

“Schengen system structurally does not work”

A year and a half after taking office, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made his first official visit to Austria on Friday, when he was received with military honors by Chancellor Karl Nehammer in Salzburg.

While the two chancellors appeared to have diametrically opposed positions on Schengen expansion, their press statements indicated agreement on structural reform of immigration controls, as well as maintaining control of some of the EU’s internal customs. “Nehammer Meets Scholz: Border Control? Irreplaceable!” – Heute.at headlines.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehhammer continued to claim that the Schengen system does not work.

• “Germany continues to control the border with Austria, which shows that the Schengen system is structurally not working.
• For me, the partnership is particularly important because we are often allies when it comes to how we shape European policy, how we want to develop the EU further.
• If you really want to have an effective external border guard, then we need to quickly return those who are not allowed to stay to their countries of origin.
• For this, it is necessary to expand and build stable and sustainable relations with native countries, to create prospects. Austria and Germany are nearby. Only if we can ensure security in the EU at the expected time, we will also win people’s trust in the European project,” said the Chancellor of Austria.

Border control remains on the border with Germany. When asked about the duration of controls at the German-Austrian border, Scholz said: “Given the current number of asylum applications, they are indispensable. We are in the process of putting the whole system on a good footing.”

Last year, 122,000 asylum applications were submitted in Austria, 75% of which were unregistered, Nehammer also said. Thanks to the measures taken, the number of asylum applications in Austria decreased this year, and in Germany – increased.

“We are a solidarity union, in the EU, Austria does not care what happens in Germany. Therefore, if we want to work on securing the external borders, Germany can rely on Austria to implement the measures of the European Commission,” he said.

Nehammer, who also talked about some successes, including the agreement with Tunisia and “pilot projects in Romania and Bulgaria, on the external borders” of the Union.

Other issues discussed by the two officials concerned the “reciprocity” between Austria and Germany on the issue of Ukraine, as well as energy – reducing dependence on Russian gas, hydrogen-based energy production. Since Austria is in the heart of Europe, landlocked, the question of new energy infrastructure arises, in particular the announcement of the creation of a southern corridor, through Austria and Italy, through which “green hydrogen” will be supplied from North Africa to Germany.