The ÖVP itself called for visa easing for earthquake victims on Sunday: The First Vice President of the EU Parliament, Othmar Karas (ÖVP), had spoken out in favor of temporarily admitting those affected to Austria. Germany can serve as a role model, which now wants to issue visas unbureaucratically so that those affected can stay with relatives in Germany.
Nehammer, on the other hand, declined during a background discussion with journalists on Tuesday: the aim must be to support people on site as well as possible. A construction program for Turkey will be necessary. Not every “announcement” is “automatically efficient,” he said of the German plans. We’ll see how that works first.
In Austria, the decision was made to help on site. The federal army mission will also continue for a while. This is not “hardship” but “the consistent continuation of the ‘help on the spot’ policy”, according to Nehammer.
“Austria didn’t freak out either”
For the time being, the Chancellor also wants to stick to the much-criticized Schengen veto against Romania and Bulgaria. The veto remains valid as long as the system is “dysfunctional”, according to Nehammer. He again referred to asylum applications from around 75,000 people who had not been registered before their arrival in Austria, even though they had long since crossed the EU’s external border.
Nehammer also reminded of the still existing border controls on the part of Germany towards Austria. One is also not lacking in solidarity, he does not find this accusation fair, emphasized Nehammer. At the time, Germany also blocked Austria’s Schengen accession because it was of the opinion that it was not in a position to protect the external border, and “Austria didn’t freak out about that”, but instead it was just working to increase trust , so that Germany could agree.
Neutrality “History of Freedom”
Even after a year of war in Ukraine, the chancellor does not want to attack Austria’s neutrality. Because of its neutrality, Austria has a “special standing” in talks, especially with countries outside the EU, because it is not part of a military alliance. Losing that would be “too high a price”, Nehammer said, in addition to all security policy aspects. “Our history of neutrality is a piece of the history of freedom for the people of Austria.”
Nehammer once again recalled the EU summit on migration, which he felt was “a great success”. “Clear words” can be found in the conclusions, such as substantial help in border protection facilities and infrastructure. He is “not so short-sighted” to believe “that the fence is the solution to the problem” – it is important to delay or prevent refugee movements, and that can only be done through cooperation with the countries of origin. It is a matter of proceeding in a coordinated and uniform manner in the repatriation policy.
At last week’s summit, EU leaders called on the Commission to “immediately mobilize extensive EU funds to support member states in expanding border protection capacities and infrastructure (…)”. The money should also be available for surveillance equipment, including air surveillance, the joint summit statement said. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had previously blocked Community funds for “barbed wire fences and walls”. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned against turning Europe into a “fortress”. However, Nehammer received support for his demands from Denmark and Greece.
