Dissensions in European Union: The Chancellor of Austria defies Romania
The Chancellor of Austria, Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), wants to talk about the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen only after the border protection in these countries is improved and after the situation in Austria improves. It is the European Commission that must consider the proposals of the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, said Nehammer. “Then we can talk about a roadmap,” he said in an interview with OFR 2 television. “If I want to have a Schengen area, I need strong external borders so that internal borders can be abolished,” The Chancellor pointed out, according to tt.com. But that hasn’t worked for a very long time, he said. “Out of 100,000 asylum seekers, do we as a landlocked country have to do the initial registration of 75,000?” the chancellor said. The numerous internal checks in the EU space showed that Schengen did not work. One could not simply take note of this and plan the next expansion, the politician added.
Nehammer could not understand the threats to boycott Austrian companies in Romania and Bulgaria. It is “absolutely, inadmissible to mix security policy issues with economic policy issues”, he claims, recalling that the EU is, first and foremost, an economic community. At the same time, he recalled that Germany blocked Austria’s accession to Schengen for two and a half years. “Mixing security issues with economic ones is not appropriate,” he said. “Austria has always offered to help the Romanian and Bulgarian authorities.” Thus, Nehammer declared himself convinced that the veto will not have negative consequences for national companies operating in Bulgaria and Romania. The chancellor pointed out that a possible boycott of Austrian companies would rather harm the countries themselves. These would bring money into the country and provide jobs, the chancellor also claimed, despite the fact that representatives of the national business environment criticized the veto. Chancellor Karl Nehammaer felt the need to come out, on Saturday, with a new statement explaining why Austria opposed the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen, after Vienna’s refusal continued to make waves and caused criticism and misunderstanding at the international level, reports the daily newspaper “Die Presse”, according to news.ro. This approach was a matter of security for Austria, the chancellor reiterated, at the same time resuming his criticism of an “erroneous” EU asylum policy and accusing Austria of pressure. In Nehammer’s opinion, the migration debate was again set in motion at the EU level with Austria’s veto. The blocking by Austria, on Thursday, of the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the area without border controls caused a great stir. Criticism was expressed not only by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, but also by the right-wing governments of Italy and Hungary, known to be hard-line on migration. Also, Romania resorted to drastic diplomatic measures and recalled its ambassador to Austria for consultations, writes “Die Presse”. “There will be no (Schengen) enlargement as long as the external border is not effectively protected. The EU’s failed asylum policy has caused this situation. Threats and polemical arguments are being used to try to increase the pressure against Austria,” he said, stated the chancellor. “As long as 75,000 foreigners arrive unregistered in eastern Austria, this is a security problem and must be solved once and for all,” Nehammer pointed out.
By Paul Bumman
