Interior Minister Gerhard Karner demanded more support from the European Commission to ensure better protection of the EU’s external borders at a meeting of EU interior ministers in Stockholm on Thursday.
In view of rising migration figures, EU interior ministers met informally in Stockholm to discuss the deportation of migrants who are obliged to leave the country, better cooperation with countries of origin, and the fight against organised crime.
On the side of Austria, Karner pushed for “robust external border protection” and demanded legal and technical support from the Commission, as is the case with border fences.
“It is necessary, if you look at the figures from last year and also the current ones, that we continue to be consistent on the asylum brake”, he said before the start of the meeting.
It would be important to “push the issue of fighting asylum abuse”, he added.
According to the Commission, almost 924,000 asylum applications were submitted in the EU in 2022, which is an increase of 46.5% compared to 2021.
Most asylum applicants came from Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan. In 2021, almost three-quarters of all asylum applications in the EU were filed in five member states, with Germany leading the pack, followed by France, Spain, Italy and Austria.
“We have many countries on the external border that need help, and we want to support these countries as well”, Karner said, referring to his joint visit with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer to the Turkish-Bulgarian EU external border on Monday. “It is necessary to make the external border in Bulgaria more robust”, he stressed.
In December, Austria and the Netherlands blocked Bulgaria and Romania from joining the visa-free Schengen zone, with Austria fearing that Bulgaria would be unable to control its borders with Turkey. Despite heavy criticism from EU partners like Germany, Integration Minister Susanne Raab justified the veto, saying there would be no point in expanding a “broken system”.
A common EU migration policy has been at the centre of debate for years, with various attempts to reform the bloc’s asylum system.
The Swedish presidency, currently at the Council’s helm for six months, is expected to move forward on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, including faster returns – a move welcomed by EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson shortly before the meeting on Thursday as she views the current situation as “acute”.
“We have a very low return rate, and I can see that we can make significant progress here to increase the number of returns,” she said.
Johansson also called for increased cooperation with third countries.
“We need to act more as Team Europe and put pressure on third countries”, she said, emphasising the importance of member states and the Commission acting together and even quicker with the help of EU border agency Frontex.
(Chiara Swaton | EURACTIV.de)
Source: euractiv.com
