Austria threatens to block EU migration summit

GENEVA

Austria is threatening to block the joint final declaration of EU leaders at a two-day summit in Brussels if concrete agreements on migration issues are not reached.

"Empty words will not suffice. There finally needs to be a clear and unequivocal commitment to strengthen external border protection and to use corresponding financial resources from the EU budget for this," Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer told the German daily Welt on Wednesday.

Otherwise, Austria would not be able to support the final declaration of the European Council, the Austrian People's Party politician said. "There has been enough talk about it, concrete steps must finally follow," Nehammer continued.

"It was high time that migration was back at the top of the European Council's agenda, but now it is a matter of concrete measures following," he added.

According to Nehammer, several states are pushing for concrete progress in the deliberations ahead of the EU summit on Thursday and Friday to curb illegal migration, which has surged again in the past year.

"The fact that the asylum system is broken is also seen by quite a few other EU member states as we do. That is why we addressed this in a joint letter to Council President Charles Michel and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the run-up to the special summit," the Austrian chancellor continued.

In the letter sent Monday, seven other heads of state and government besides Nehammer had called for tougher action against illegal migration. The other signatories included leaders from Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Greece, and Slovakia.

In the document, the EU leaders called for more concrete support from the EU Commission and greater involvement of the EU border agency Frontex in external border protection, as well as more deportations through improved cooperation with transit countries and countries of origin.

In addition, they demanded that visa policy should be used much more strongly as a lever to improve the readiness of the third countries concerned to take back immigrants.

GENEVA

Austria is threatening to block the joint final declaration of EU leaders at a two-day summit in Brussels if concrete agreements on migration issues are not reached.

"It was high time that migration was back at the top of the European Council's agenda, but now it is a matter of concrete measures following," he added.

In addition, they demanded that visa policy should be used much more strongly as a lever to improve the readiness of the third countries concerned to take back immigrants.