Image: APA/EVA MANHART
Karner said that on Tuesday in the Ö1 “Morgenjournal”. The current border controls ran until May 11, “and we will inform the (EU) Commission in a few days that we will have to extend these border controls because it is necessary to continue to step on the asylum brake and to prevent asylum abuse.” . Last year there was “an incredibly high migration pressure”. “It was therefore necessary to continue these controls, which we are doing now.”
The numbers are now falling significantly, which is also the “result of these controls”. While there were 2,600 asylum applications in February of this year, there were still 12,000 asylum applications in November 2022. “And so that we can continue on this consistent path, we also have to continue the controls.” As long as the EU’s external border protection does not work, you have to bear these “millions of costs”, “but this is necessary for the safety of the Austrian population”.
Migration pressure in Slovenia and Italy has increased significantly in recent months, and Austria must react to it “in good time” and prepare itself “because we have to avoid the situation we had last year at all costs”. The “pressure on the smuggler mafia” should be increased. This year – in the first quarter – around 80 people smugglers have already been arrested.
Source: Nachrichten
