Austria and four other countries put pressure on the European Union «kleinezeitung.at

He called the interior ministers of Germany, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Greece to continue to return to Afghanistan.

6:37 PM, August 5, 2021

The Ministry of the Interior rejected SPÖ’s criticism of too little cooperation on immigration issues at the EU level. The opposite is true: the Minister of the Interior Carl Nehamer (ÖVP) has been in close contact with official colleagues of the European Union for weeks in order to find a common approach to Afghanistan, and today I contacted the EU Commission with four other colleagues.

The interior ministers of Germany, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Greece have called for a continued return to Afghanistan, primarily in order to get Afghans who have committed criminal offenses out of the European Union. The Commission should conduct an extensive dialogue with the Government of Afghanistan on this matter. Meanwhile, there should be assistance in caring for refugees in Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, and support should be given to Afghanistan in combating irregular migration.

This is the correct sign.

“We stick to deportations to Afghanistan. Together with Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands and Belgium, we call on the European Union Commission to insist on compliance with the return agreement with Afghanistan. This is the correct signal to illegal immigrants: Don’t even make your way to Europe,” Nehamer said in a statement to APA. .

“At the same time, we want to provide assistance in countries neighboring Afghanistan and support countries in that. And whoever is forced to flee must find a safe place there. This is also consistent with the intent of the Geneva Refugee Convention, which speaks of protection in the immediate vicinity of the country of origin and not entering into a destination desirable over a thousand kilometers. Here, too, a joint approach between EU countries and the Commission is required.”

accusation of inaction

SPÖ . head Pamela Rende Wagner He had called on the turquoise-green government today, in light of the rising refugee numbers, to “end its inaction at the EU level and find common solutions”. She sees an “urgent need for action” in the government and calls for an “alliance of those affected with the EU Commission”. Solutions are needed “instead of showing politics, division and escalation,” the SPÖ leader said in a statement to the APA. “2015 should not be repeated,” she said.

The growing refugee numbers will show that the asylum policy pursued by Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Interior Minister Nahamer has “failed in all areas”. “No country can deal with uncontrolled immigration alone; the countries involved need to work quickly with the EU Commission.” It is now necessary to “quickly form this alliance and seek to strengthen cooperation in the European Union”. Rendi Wagner said Kurz and Nehamer urgently needed to start such an alliance and involve the EU Commission.

Aside from the internal political debate, there was also an international discussion on Thursday about deportations to Afghanistan. After a joint deportation flight between Germany and Austria was halted on Tuesday evening with Afghan criminals for security reasons, the two countries committed to deportation to Afghanistan.