Austria announced Wednesday a daily limit for the number of asylum requests as eastern EU members set a mid-March deadline for a German-backed plan on Turkey sealing its borders to migrants to bear fruit. On the eve of an EU summit, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel meanwhile urged a "common stance" in the 28-nation bloc, saying that the Turkey plan "offers a good solution".
The Austrian government announced a daily cap of 80 asylum claims and said it would grant entry to a daily total of 3,200 migrants seeking asylum in a neighbouring country, effective Friday. The move came a day after Austria said it would step up border controls and several weeks after saying it aimed to slash the number of asylum claims this year to 37,500 from 90,000 in 2015. Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner on Wednesday said that Austria had no choice but to act because there was no European solution yet in place.
"Austria is among the EU countries most under strain and is reaching breaking point. It stands to reason to want to secure your own borders when there is no European solution," she said. In such a situation, she said it was important that every country through the Balkans - the main route for migrants bound for northern Europe - follow Austria's lead.
At present the vast majority of migrants enter the EU through Greece and Italy, but most are able to continue their journeys to northern Europe.
However, most EU countries have shown little enthusiasm for the plan, with the so-called Visegrad Four (V4) - Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary - openly defying Merkel. They have pledged to help Macedonia and Bulgaria close their borders with Greece, which would leave Athens with rapidly rising numbers of refugees while effectively excluding it from Europe's passport-free Schengen zone.
Comments
Comments are closed.