The Europe Minister expects proposals and solutions by mid-2023. Austria has vetoed a “broken system”. In the EU corruption scandal, Edtstadler calls for severe punishment.
Europe Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) linked Austria’s yes to the Schengen accession of Romania and Bulgaria to progress in EU migration policy. “The Schengen expansion is something that we of course want to discuss further in coordination with our partners Bulgaria and Romania, so that we can put it back on the agenda once the appropriate steps have been taken in migration and asylum policy,” she said APA interview.
Edtstadler pointed out that Sweden, a country taking over the EU Council Presidency in January, “that is both long-suffering and experienced when it comes to migration. I expect that this topic will also remain high on the agenda, and that we might be able to do so in the middle of the We will already have some concrete proposals and solutions at the table by 2023.”
“Needs possibility for asylum applications in third countries”
The Schengen decision will not be postponed until the entire asylum package has been decided at EU level with numerous legal acts, as this will take some time. “But you have to take these steps step by step and define a plan. Then you can very well talk about the Schengen expansion to include Bulgaria and Romania,” said Edtstadler.
“We need the opportunity to apply for asylum in safe third countries,” demanded the Europe Minister. “Furthermore, there is a need for pilot projects to quickly deal with asylum procedures at the EU’s external borders – and of course financial support for the countries that are geographically located on the external borders.”
Edtstadler referred to the Austrian police support operation on the North Macedonian-Greek border. “This is how you can imagine the pilot project. It has not yet been implemented, but it is a proposal that the Commissioner responsible (Ylva, note) Johansson incorporated into an action plan.”
frustration “understandable”
Edtstadler called Romania’s and Bulgaria’s frustration at not being able to join the Schengen area on January 1 “quite understandable”, but defended Austria’s veto. “The veto is not against individual member states, but against a broken system,” she said. Austria is “having very good talks with the two countries. I think the emotions have subsided a bit in the meantime. You can see that Austria wants to work constructively on defining an action plan, planning the next steps, and that there will be more next year There are decisions to be made regarding the Schengen enlargement.”
“It would be a total abandonment of all sovereignty, both of the EU and of individual states, if we simply said: We don’t know whether it will work anyway, but we are now expanding the area that can get by without controls,” said the Europe Minister. “You have to see that this issue has been on the table since 2015, that we haven’t solved it yet, and that’s why many internal borders have been controlled since 2015. So if we want to live out this vision of a Europe without internal borders, then we have to first ensure the external border protection, and only then can we expand the Schengen area.” It cannot be that in a country like Austria, which is in the middle of other Schengen states, 75 percent of all arriving refugees are not registered.
Construction of fences and barriers
In this context, Edtstadler also defended the use of Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) to support Bulgaria in building physical barriers at the EU’s external border with EU funds. “It was necessary to speak up loudly for other states and their border protection, such as Bulgaria, which has a difficult border with Turkey. Migration pressure is particularly great here.” The EU Commission said a few days ago that Bulgaria should say what it needs. That is why she already sees a rethinking in the EU authority. “Fences are of course just one of many measures that need to be put in place and that already exist in 11 out of 27 Member States.”
It is also important that the European Commission negotiates readmission agreements itself because it has more weight than individual states. “Trust must be rebuilt. It must be put on the table where there are problems, where the border controls at the external border are leaking,” said Edtstadler.
“So far we have not had a common European asylum system that works. We have to admit that Dublin III has failed, that people are not registered at the external border. And that is why all member states can contribute to ensuring that Bulgaria and Bulgaria can join the country quickly of Romania to the Schengen area by working on solutions. That would also mean that at some point we would abolish border controls at the internal borders.”
It is a first success that a special EU summit on migration will take place in February. Edtstadler said that by then she was expecting “concrete action plans, which measures must be taken and that these measures will then also be implemented”. The five points raised by the Interior Minister are important. There is a lot to implement, “for example, combating the causes of flight, concrete cooperation with countries in North Africa, improving communication policy.” It must be said that only those who actually have a reason for asylum can stay. States that are also struggling with high migration numbers have already approached Austria. Edtstadler named Italy, Spain and Poland.
The ÖVP politician ruled out that Austria’s Schengen veto was motivated by domestic politics. “If we have over 100,000 asylum applications in one year, while Germany has 200,000 with a population ten times as large, then I don’t need a much-cited Lower Austrian state election to say in a European way: it can’t work like that.”
“Shocked” by the corruption scandal in the EU Parliament
The former judge was “shocked” by the latest corruption scandal at the highest level in the European Parliament. “It needs quick and comprehensive clarification and severe punishment of those who have probably stuffed their sacks full of money,” said Edtstadler. “You have to look closely at who else is involved.”
It’s about people’s trust in political institutions, about democracy as such. The fact that Qatar is threatening to affect gas supplies after the allegations is “not a nice statement. But I assume that full cooperation will be achieved, especially given that Qatar can play an important role in the future of Europe in the area of energy supply.”
Edtstadler said she could imagine Ukraine joining the EU if the country continued along the reform path. “Ukraine is now showing unbelievable ambition and will to go this route into the European Union. I was impressed when I traveled to Kyiv with a delegation of European ministers at the end of November, how strong the will is to show that these reforms are being tackled – and this, although this country is still in a state of war.” Edtstadler has no doubts about continued EU support for Kyiv. “Giving up is not an option. The European Union is absolutely united in support and solidarity for Ukraine.”
(WHAT)