EBN–Austria has rejected plans by Germany’s Christian Union and Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party to turn away asylum seekers at the German border.
In statements to the German News Agency, the Austrian Interior Ministry in Vienna stated, “Austria will not accept such people.”
Austria claims that under present EU rules, asylum applicants cannot be informally rejected at the border.
The Austrian Interior Ministry stated in a statement that it had instructed the relevant local police departments not to accept the German authorities’ refusal of entrance, which violates European Union legislation, and to immediately notify the ministry of any observations in this respect.
It is worth noting that the new Austrian government itself, consisting of the conservative Austrian People’s Party, the Social Democratic Party and the liberal Neues Party, is planning to implement restrictive measures in the areas of asylum and immigration. For example, this coalition intends to temporarily suspend family reunifications for people with protection status. The Christian Union and the Social Democratic Party in Germany are planning a similar step, which will apply to family members of refugees with limited protection status.
The Austrian government also reserves the right to activate the EU’s emergency clause in the event of an increase in asylum applications, and not to accept any new applications.
The Christian Union, led by Friedrich Merz, and Scholz’s Social Democrats announced on Saturday the completion of exploratory talks to form a new ruling coalition in Germany, which had continued for days, during which the two sides were able to remove major issues of contention between them.
The leaders of the Christian Union and the Social Democratic Party also announced an agreement on a joint path in migration policy, whereby people applying for asylum at the land border are planned to be turned back during extended checks, but only in coordination with the neighbouring country concerned (Austria is one of nine countries that have a land border with Germany.)
